FRANCE: Socialist Presidential Candidate Names Piketty to His Team (They Want to Tax Robots)

"Taxe moi bébé" 

French Socialist presidential candidate Benoît Hamon has named the very confused economist Thomas Piketty, author of the best-selling "Capital in the Twenty-First Century", to his team.

Both Hamon and Piketty have made inequality a central part of their messages.

Hamon, 49, proposes to tackle inequality with radical changes, including a universal basic income for all French people and taxes on companies who replace employees with machines.

Latest polls show centrist and former economy minister Emmanuel Macron winning the keys to the Elysée Palace election.

An Ifop opinion poll published on Friday forecast far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen scoring 26 percent in the first round on April 23, followed by Macron with 20.5 percent and conservative Francois Fillon with 17.5 percent.

Hamon is currently forecast to come in fourth with 15 percent.

-RW

(via French 24)