Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s president, has asked for private sector consultants to prepare a performance report on all his ministers. Here is the confidential report they have presented on the president.

●Communication skills: 9/10. NS has a world-class ability to sell his ideas to a sceptical audience. He is a natural, in the same league as Bill Clinton and Tony Blair. He has transformed the terms of the political debate.
●Tactical ability: 8. NS has out-foxed his opposition. He has co-opted the leading lights of the Socialist party and is proving agile in dealing with the trades unions. But he must use this tactical advantage for strategic purpose.
●Strategic vision: 7. NS has identified most of France’s key challenges and has articulated a compelling vision for reform. He is right to emphasise labour and product market reforms. But he also needs to tackle excessive corporatism and statism. What does this “policy of civilisation” mean?
●Foreign relations: 6. Commendably, NS has patched up France’s relations with Washington. He has also played a helpful role in resolving the European Union’s institutional mess. But his human rights stance has been weakened by his obsession with mercantilist gain.
 ●Intellectual coherence: 4. Consistency is not NS’s strength. Condemning foreign sovereign wealth funds for operating with non-economic objectives while telling France’s own sovereign wealth fund to act with non-economic objectives is just one example. A primer on trade theory would not go amiss.
●Financial discipline: 4. NS’s decision to cut taxes is looking smarter today than it did last summer. But he has left himself with no margin for manoeuvre if the economy deteriorates.
●Delivery: 3. It is still early days but there is not yet much to show for his exertions. The softening of the global economy does not help. But NS is overly fond of gimmicky solutions to complex problems. He should favour the consistent application of sound principles instead.
●Team play: 2. NS has put together a talented government team. But he wants to play in every position and is obsessed with scoring all the goals. He hogs the ball in Europe too.
●Total stakeholder return: 6. NS has phenomenal energy and bags of potential. He has created the best chance in a generation to reform France. But he is over-excitable and too easily distracted by the bright lights. He must switch from campaigning to governing mode, worrying less about the headline and more about the bottom line.