Thus Le Monde today. “Jacques Attali surprises once again with his brand of optimism about us all,” explains the newspaper. Namely, a mugger accosted him in Paris earlier this year. It was well past midnight, but Attali did not flinch. Instead, he started a discussion with the mugger about human nature. He insisted on inherent goodness of the species, and the mugger was soon disarmed. He entirely agreed with Attali. They ended up having a drink together, and Attali sealed the new friendship with a handsome gift of money. What is more, the mugger promised him to look for a job the very next morning. Attali never reported the case to the police, but talked about it quite frankly at a recent television talk show. He also reported that his new friend did get a decent job in shop security. And Attali got a standing ovation from the audience in the studio.