Support Blast, a new independent media: https://www.blast-info.fr/soutenir There are around 2,000 senior civil servants in France, half of whom (ENA graduates, financial inspectors, and polytechnicians) share the highest positions, the highest incomes, the most attendance fees on boards of directors, the greatest number of trips between the public and private sectors, the most golden parachutes and the most stock options... Their annual income ranges between 200,000 and 500,000 euros (salary of the former head of Sciences Po) not counting shares and dividends. Vincent Jauvert, a journalist at l'Obs, is publishing at the end of the year the third volume of his adventures as Tintin, a reporter in the land of civil servants. After "Les intouchables" and "Les voraces", here is "La Mafia d'Etat" (Le Seuil, November 2021). "In France, a small group of senior civil servants monopolizes most of the key and lucrative positions - in large private companies as well as at the heart of the State. Since the election of Emmanuel Macron, this caste has never been so powerful and so rich." warns the author. How did this caste, unique in the Western world, form itself to reach its peak today? How did it manage to counter all attempts to reduce its power? Why is Édouard Philippe one of its masked leaders? 85 minutes of dense and enlightening conversation between Denis Robert and Vincent Jauvert for this scathing, depressing, suffocating Zoom arrière which above all marks an almost definitive break, in any case abysmal, between the France of the high and that of the low. More than the dizzying figures, the sleight of hand to be forgotten or the inventions of jurisprudence, the secrets of this tribe of suits and ties and chic tailors more concerned with money and power than with the general interest, make us nervous and provoke anger here. We learn how these senior officials co-opt themselves into the boards of directors of private groups, at the limits of the law; how they make a fortune thanks to the dismantling of the State that they themselves orchestrated; how some have continued to maneuver skillfully and prosper during the health crisis, how, for services rendered to politicians (here to Alexis Kolher), they are authorized to receive attendance fees beyond retirement. Worse, we realize, following Jauvert in his investigation, that this State mafia holds all the reins of the country. And seems unshakeable. Unless salaries and golden pensions are reduced by 90%. After all, why not? Journalist: Denis Robert Editing: Ameyes Aït-Oufella Images: Arthur Frainet Sound: Baptiste Veilhan Graphics: Adrien Colrat Broadcast: Maxime Hector Production: Thomas Bornot Program Director: Mathias Enthoven Website: https://www.blast-info.fr/ Facebook: / blastofficiel Twitter: / blast_france Instagram: / blastofficiel #Mafia #State #France