” If you don’t know where you’re going … any road will take you there ! “

(Lewis Carroll)

Well, you would be as surprised as I was, to learn that in fact 21 out of the famous 40 firms that compose the Paris Stock Exchange index are held over 50% by foreign investors. Can it be said that over half the French Bourse is controlled by foreigners…? Not quite, because financial control is not governance control.

So, as “French” as Arcelor Mittal, (certainly Mr Mittal who wed his daughter in a rented wing of Versailles, can pretend to be more french than the rest of the world), Dexia, or even … EADS, STMicroelectronics ? Or more like Lafarge (held by Bruxelle Lambert) or AGF (held by Allianz) ?

As engineers, should we keep our eyes closed on governance issues ? or shall we keep a caring - if still helpless - watch ?  

ou comment le Neuf se retrouve dans le Vieux.

Sauf si vous êtes très pécialisé, vous ne savez sans doute pas ce qu’est la Taxonomie. Non, je ne parle pas de la Taxidermie. Vous avez des chances d’avoir pratiqué la Taxonomie si vous êtes philologue, naturaliste ou ixèmèliste.

Or, un jeune élève-ingénieur m’a donné un éclairage inattendu et parfaitement correct de la Taxonomie: ” c’est quand les utilisateurs ont la possibilité d’ajouter des Tags pour qualifier les articles de leur Univers…”

Donc, la Taxonomie c’est la connaissance du monde par les tagsssss ….. ! 

Hooray for that : in Challenges magazine this week, we’re placed third, with a composite rating of Eng schools taking into consideration not only starting salaries for graduates or connections with firms and companies, but also their international exchange programs and attractiveness.

This is good to live with !

So here I come - or rather, return !

… to this charming school so full of young, eager faces ready ” to take arms against a sea ( or is it a C plus plus ) of troubles, and by opposing, end them ! “

4 years is a long time and lots of things have changed, but lots have remained the same …

And with some Q (or is it some cues ?) I will bring Quants to the world .

Let there be light …