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Look whoâs starting to get really shaky
Via Collin May of Innocents Abroad:France Continues to Fall Todayâs le Figaro has a number of stories about the declining state of Franceâs economic and financial situation. Figures published yesterday on the public administration finances show that French national debt reached 4.1% of GDP in 2003. To make matters worse, France, like Germany (and unlike most other European nations) has witnessed almost total stagnation in economic growth. As it stands now, France and Germany are turning into the economic basketcases of Europe. Apart from the national implications are the threats posed to French influence in the EU. France continues to float precariously above the 3% of GDP debt limit placed on member nations by the EU. Many have complained about this level as unrealistic (though other EU nations seem able to meet it), but as former French auditor Roger Fauroux points out, if it werenât for the EU and the Euro, the weakness of Franceâs finances would be even more evident. This puts France in an increasingly shaky position in Europe. Many other nations are tiring of the French inability to control that countryâs finances. Over the past few months, Iâve reported on a number of French thinkers arguing that France has entered what looks to be a protracted and irreversible decline in a number of areas. Figures like these only serve to confirm that view. Posted by: Anonymous2U 2004-03-10 |
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