French PM Warns Against Overtaxing Rich Such As LVMH’s Arnault

Imposing heavy taxes on the rich won’t extricate France from its budget morass and would only push them to leave the country, according to French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou.

The premier, speaking in the National Assembly ahead of a confidence vote, was countering the call by some left-leaning parties to raise taxes on people like Bernard Arnault, the billionaire CEO of luxury giant LVMH, to close the country’s budget gap.

“Bernard Arnault and his ilk have become the emblematic targets of magical thinking; they’re like voodoo dolls with needles stuck in them to hurt them and, I ...