Yes, really, so what are you going to do to fix things?

Waking up at 0330 is always a walking nightmare.

Switch on the computer, go to Youtube, go to the recommended list.

Nicolas Sarkozy at the end of a speech at the start of the second round of the French Presidential elections. Some noisy supporters waving the tricolore, and chanting. Quite what I did not catch.

The rest was campaign rhetoric. France needs this, France needs that usw.

Actually what he intends doing after 5 years in power with a supportive RPR government in the Assemblée Générale?

Unemployment is rife, the government debt pile is enormous, private debt is an increasingly serious problem, and like their Republican party friends and maybe allies in the US, there is an unwillingness to acknowledge that 2008 ever happened - it was just a glitch on the radar.

And the country is such a state that nearly 20% of the people voted like Anders Breivik thinks. First time round anyway.

And a further 11% wanted a sort of hardline Communism like used to come out of the Kremlin in the good old days (?). That is also a growing flavour in other European countries - see the rise of the Socialist Party in the Netherlands.

Meanwhile the big issues remain. The important questions remain unanswered. How do we end the curses of unemployment, poverty and personal debt, while making sure that government finances are based upon sound (debt-free) principles? And don't tell me that free market capitalism is the answer, that is what created the crisis in 2008 in the first place! More regulation to stop speculators running our lives is essential.

Does anyone have a clue?

François Hollande is going to inherit the mess. By default the way David Cameron inherited the mess in the UK. He may well end up looking as incompetent as David Cameron looks now (the UK remains in stagnation, deflation and the tired old policy of boosting exports through a weak currency seem to be the only ideas left).

What we need all across Europe is a positive clear direction that will lift people up, and create a sense of prosperity, common-sense and concern all at the same time. It needs to be realised in practical ways though, not in campaign speeches, chants and flag waving.