In Dead Souls, the Russian writer Nikolai Gogol tells the story of a man who buys the souls of dead serfs still listed as alive in the census. This highlights a peculiar issue: official records sometimes count people or entities that no longer exist. A similar situation is now unfolding in France, particularly in the department of Val-d'Oise, where a large number of companies have been removed from the official registry. According to a report by Infogreffe and the Medef Île-de-France, 7,789 companies were struck off between January and June, a 52% increase compared to the same period last year. Across the Île-de-France region, the total number of strike-offs rose by 19.1%, reaching 87,527. Nationally, the increase was even higher, at 24.7%. At first glance, these numbers might seem alarming, especially since real estate, construction, and administrative services—sectors already struggling with rising interest rates and fewer construction projects—were the most affected. However, the story becomes more complex when looking at other data. The number of new companies created increased by 7.9%, reaching 7,931, and the number of collective procedures—legal processes involving multiple parties—decreased by 15.7%. In a region experiencing economic difficulties, one would expect more restructurings and liquidations, but the opposite is happening. The number of restructurings is actually declining. This suggests that the situation may not be as dire as the raw numbers imply. The nature of the company exits is also important. A strike-off, which removes a company from the official registry, is not the same as bankruptcy. It can be voluntary, following a company's liquidation, or it can be ordered by a court clerk. The latter type—court-ordered strike-offs—has been growing rapidly. In the second quarter of 2025, the number of these strike-offs more than tripled compared to previous periods, now making up nearly half of all exits with known reasons. This surge coincides with a new law passed on June 13, 2025, aimed at fighting drug trafficking. The law made the strike-off the standard penalty for companies that fail to declare their beneficial owners, targeting shell companies—entities that exist on paper but have no real business activity. This law may have also prompted court clerks to clean up the registry by removing long-dormant shell companies that had been forgotten by their founders. The situation in Val-d'Oise is not a straightforward sign of economic decline. The Medef Île-de-France, a business association, suggests that the increase in strike-offs may reflect both the removal of failing companies and a broader cleanup of the registry. The department is not just losing companies—it is also removing "ghosts," or inactive entities that no longer contribute to the economy. However, the reasons for the higher number of strike-offs in Val-d'Oise compared to other areas remain unclear. The pace at which different court clerks process dormant cases may affect the numbers, with some courts possibly inflating their statistics by clearing out old cases in a short period. In contrast, areas like Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne saw a decrease in strike-offs. This variation shows that the situation is more nuanced than a simple economic crisis. While the numbers may suggest a problem, they also point to an ongoing effort to maintain an accurate and up-to-date company registry, which is essential for understanding the true state of the economy.