globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com / By Mike “Mish” Shedlock / Monday, January 28, 2013 8:48 PM
Fresh on the heels of France’s labour minister stating “France is a Totally Bankrupt State” comes news the city of Dijon needs to sell its prized wine collection to help those “appealing for social aid.”
Please consider L’austérité à la française: city sells prized wines.
The city of Dijon has just sold off half of its prized municipal wine cellar to help fund local social spending – including a bottle of 1999 Burgundy knocked down at auction for €4,800 to a Chinese buyer.
In total, the capital of the Burgundy region raised €151,620 from the “historic sale” of 3,500 bottles that were part of a collection built up since the 1960s, it announced in a statement on Monday.
President François Hollande’s Socialist government has spent most of its first eight months in office earning a reputation for ramping up taxes on the rich to cover the country’s budget deficit.
But Mr Hollande has warned local authorities that they must also shoulder some of the burden by accepting a spending squeeze as the government seeks to cut €60bn by 2017.
