Posted on 11/16/2012 9:34:18 PM PST by bruinbirdman
French officials angrily rejected a charge by The Economist on Friday that France was the "time-bomb at the heart of Europe", accusing the magazine of sensationalist journalism.
The Economist's front cover showed seven loaves of "baguette" bread held together by a French tricolour with a lit fuse protruding from the centre.
Its main article raised concerns that President Francois Hollande's economic reforms are not ambitious enough and so could jeopardise the future of the euro currency.
"Unless Mr Hollande shows that he is genuinely committed to changing the path his country has been on for the past 30 years, France will lose the faith of investors—and of Germany. As several euro-zone countries have found, sentiment in the markets can shift quickly," The Economist wrote.
"The crisis could hit as early as next year. Previous European currency upheavals have often started elsewhere only to finish by engulfing France—and this time, too, France rather than Italy or Spain could be where the euro’s fate is decided. Mr Hollande does not have long to defuse the time-bomb at the heart of Europe."
Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg told Europe 1 radio: "Honestly, The Economist has never distinguished itself by its sense of even-handedness."
"It is the Charlie Hebdo of the City," he said, referring to the French satirical weekly which in September drew international criticism for publishing cartoons depicting a naked Prophet Mohammad.
Aside from doubts over the scale of its reform efforts, many economists and EU officials are sceptical that it can hit its target of cutting its public deficit to 3pc of output to 2013 as promised.
Failure to do so could prompt financial markets to demand higher yields for its bonds, which are currently held around record lows of 2pc on the perception that France is, along
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
...a charge by The Economist on Friday that France was the "time-bomb at the heart of Europe" ... front cover showed seven loaves of "baguette" bread held together by a French tricolour with a lit fuse protruding from the centre.
Earlier this year, The Economist endorsed Obama.
Source: European Commission
Interesting map. I wonder what Slovakia is doing right that Czech isn’t.
Ain’t it funny that the EU economy that was only second to Germany is also suddenly in trouble? Can’t explain that away by saying that Germany was the only economy that did everything right, because they sure didn’t.
They didn’t go against the boss like Vaclav Klaus did.
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