alainlemasson.fr

alainlemasson.fr

(short) english version

alainlemasson.fr

 

Bonjour!

 

Writing a blog is a unique experience. A blog is a book without ending, a book that can be amended or enriched endlessly. At any time, from any place.  A real pleasure.

 

I started this one in 2008. The best translation I can imagine for "Coups de coeur, coups de gueule", its original title, would be something like " Reactions on what's going on here and there" .

 

Sixteen years or so after, the word "blog" probably does not fit any more. This is rather a mixed form of blog and web site...

 

In 2012, I started a new web site, Infofi2000, dedicated to the teaching of economics and finance, in other words an e-learning site. very successfull.

 

Background

 

The starting idea was to put together a couple of articles I began writing after my early retirement. Articles  triggered by what I read or heard, on society, politics, oenology, education, etc ...

 

I enjoy this kind of writing, the discipline it requires, the constant re-writing, modifying. Articles must have five hundred words, no more. No adverbs, a few adjectives, short sentences. Clarity of thoughts, precision of words, fluidity of style. Well, un travail d'artisan, a craftmanship.

 

I wrote about one hundred articles until 2024, published in Les Echos, a french newspaper focussing on finance, economics and politics and Capital, a monthly magazine and web site.

 

Compared to this, the apparent success of my e-learning site is amazing: until 2020, about 30 000 annual visits were accounted for. 

 

Writing articles ...

 

The most read ones:

 

-  The future of France Reflections on France role in the United States of Europe.

-  A Frenchman in Ohio I  volunteered in the 2004 Kerry-Bush campaign.

-  Beijing speech on education and career at Beihan University (2009)

-  Wine and Culture I was a student at  the University of Bourgogne in 2009-2010

-  Grandes Ecoles The collateral damages (social and intellectual) of the french "elite"-   selection system

-  The chinese dream  A parallel with the american dream

-  China 2011 My second trip to China: learning the language, staying with a chinese family, etc

-  Wine tourism in Bourgogne and Germany Excerpts from my thesis

-  Management Some thoughts based on my own experience

-  Paris Burning Some chapters of my thriller.  The book is now sold at lulu.com and amazon

-  Credit and marketing strategy Excerpts from my book published 2011

-  The Asma Assad enigma Some thoughts about the syrian ruler's wife

-  Nuclear defense of Europe France could help Europe to be a military power

-  The European Financial Crisis Securitization as a tool to help Greece 

 -  Sciences Po   governance changes may harm the reputation of this University

-  The Euro        the strange idea of going back to the franc or deutsche mark

 

 

... and books

 

The first one I wrote is a thriller. A passionate reader of american thrillers (Ludlum, Tom Clancy, Crichton,  etc ...) I decided that time had come for me to try and create my own stories. I wrote "OPERATION PARIS BRULE", "Paris burning".

A dirty bomb explodes in the metro, right below the Seine river. Confusion, chaos.  Who put the bomb and why, and how, and what happens next ? The french president hides in the Elysean bunker. The american president tries to help. The good guy - a  saoudian business man - and a beautiful girl - the daughter of the american President, nothing less - will save "La Ville des Lumières", the "City of Lights".

 

This book, a marvel in all objectivity, did not please french publishing houses. Scoundrels! But knowing that Balzac had five or six un-published books at his debuts gave me some hope.

 

The second attempt was a book of a different vein. A book on credit and banking.  A good opportunity to close the long chapter of my professional life. It was fun to write it, using my experience in government finance negociation, german SMEs lending, corporate lending, etc... I could not help adding two chapters on subprimes and multicultural management. This book  "CREDIT ET STRATEGIE COMMERCIALE" has been published, march 2011..

 

My third book, a novel again, was finished in 2012. It's  the story of a guy who becomes immensely rich. He first has to learn how to spend his money in the most discreet way.  He travels, meets people, gets involved into romances. He finally creates  a complex humanitarian institution dedicated to multi-cultural and "humanist" education. This, too, was fun too to write, mixing good and evil. The dangerous world of banks and law firms, the complexity of doing "good" things. This book will be in two parts, UNIVERSUM I  and II.

 

 

My fourth book was published  in march 2017. The title is self-explanatory: BANQUE FINANCE ECONOMIE POUR TOUS ie Banks, Finance Economy for all. The challenge was to explain everyday's economics using simple words. This book is derived from my website infofi2000.com - finance for non-finance people. I thought the re-writing would be easy ... it took me a year to adapt the web version and produce a book...

 

The 4th edition has been published in October 2023.

 

 

Pictures

 

I chose some pictures - not too many - of places I particularly liked/like. With an emphasis on my 1850 farm in southern Normandy. One hour from Paris Montparnasse. An entirely new world. An island amidst cultivated fields (more pictures of it at http://leboisdela.blog4ever.com ).

 

Other pictures:.

- Burgundy

- China

- USA

- Cap Nègre ...

 

And last but not least some paintings, mainly from 15th-16th northern Europe painters. 

 

Objectives

 

New books, new trips and new articles.

 

First another thriller, with China as a background. I always wondered about the mystery of the chinese government decision-making process. In all simplicity, I'll try to imagine it. In english, a challenge.

 

The other book would be about management. Working at my thesis on german wines took me to do some research on the burgundy monks who built an  immense network of abbeys throughout Europe one thousand years ago. How they administered this network successfully, for so long and without the use of email or i-phones, puzzled me. Reading about their organization triggered the idea of connecting their administration methods to modern management. The titlle of the book I have in mind  could be something like "Management and Organization: From Cluny to Harvard ". This will take years, as I need to read a lot .

 

The trip ? Well, the idea is to return to China through Russia. I would spent two or three weeks in Irkutsk, close to the famous Baikal Lake, attending a language school, while staying with a russian family. And then, off to Vladivostok and northern China... using the Transsiberian Train. Being able to communicate with other passengers, in (very) basic russian and chinese language. An old dream.

 

And,... America ! I volunteered in the 2012 Obama campaign (as I did in the 2004 John Kerry campaign). My 23 years old daughter - a student in public law at La Sorbonne came with me. We were assigned to Reno, Nevada.

 

We loved it. 

 

 

 

 Publicity

 

 My books "Credit and marketing strategy" and "Operation: Paris Burning" are now available online (amazon and lulu.com, just type the author's name). Paper book, e-book or free pdf-version.

The third one, on Export Negotiation is available on amazon or priceminister.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Updated mars 2017.

 



18/06/2011
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