The fire that badly damaged Limoges’ 19th-century city hall was set on purpose, the local prefect said. By Sunday it was under control, and France was counting the damage: more than 2,400 arrests on Saturday alone, according to authorities, nearly 1,000 police and gendarmes injured, and hundreds of businesses looted in Paris, Marseille, Lyon, and other cities. Looting and fires continued Sunday night, and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu ordered localized curfews Monday. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez admitted police “lost control” and offered to resign. President Emmanuel Macron refused.
America has worse inflation, as Fortune’s Jason Ma reported Monday. U.S. consumer prices rose 3.7% in the year through September, compared with France’s 3.4% on the EU-harmonized measure. What offsets it is growth. U.S. GDP rose 2.2% in the second quarter; unemployment is 4.2%; and wages are growing about 3.0% a year, below inflation. Meanwhile, France expects its economy to grow just 0.5% this year, and youth unemployment there is about 20%.
