On May 6, the people of France made a big change: ousting President Nicolas Sarkozy and replacing him with socialist Francois Hollande. One clear statement was a rejection of austerity as imposed by what they called “Merkozy”–Angela Merkel of Germany together with Sarkozy. Should the financial world be concerned? Is this the beginning of the end for the euro? How will those of us in the United States be affected? In this discussion, Universite de Paris Professor Robert Coale, an American who has lived in France for 25 years,  sheds a great deal of light on the new realities in France.