So is France's economy really in such a woeful state?
The answer, according to a 14-page report by The Economist, is a resounding yes.
There was no mincing of words. While Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy remain in trouble, the magazine said, the looming French crisis "could dwarf any".
It cited familiar symptoms of France's malaise: central government consumed 57 per cent of GDP, the highest in the euro zone; failure to balance the books since 1981 that meant public debt has soared from 22 per cent of GDP then to 90 per cent now; higher taxes on companies, wealth, capital gains and dividends; a higher minimum wage and a "partial rollback of previously accepted rise in the pension age"; and too many firms uncompetitive with the country's "bloated government" living beyond its means.
"For years [France] has been losing competitiveness to Germany and the trend has accelerated as the Germans have cut costs and pushed through big reforms," said The Economist.
"Without the option of currency devaluation, France has resorted to public spending and debt."
The French are often portrayed, as much by themselves as others, as masters of the art of complaining. But they do not take kindly to being told what is good for them.
Salt was rubbed into their wounds because the source of the criticism was a publication regarded as influential among the world's decision-makers.
Even before The Economist weighed in, Pierre Moscovici, the French finance minister, was voicing government dismay at alarmist portrayal of François Hollande's first forays into solving France's crisis.
"What is worst thing for me is to read in the newspapers that the exile begins, businesses flee," he said at an employers' conference in Paris. "The French-bashing [he used the English phrase] is frightening."
And as The Economist showed when it hit the newsstands a few days later and other free-market pundits joined the attacks on France, there is little immediate prospect of the world taking a rosier view.
Countering such views, Agnès Catherine Poirier, a well-known French journalist, used her column in The Guardian, a British newspaper,to argue that The Economist, the financial markets' "bible", shared with the Financial Times an inability to appreciate, let alone understand, France's exceptions. "The central role of the state is, for those market-friendly publications, anathema," she wrote.
"France is bound to collapse at some point, it is inevitable. And yet, despite the [fictional] 'Little Ultra-Liberal Guidebook's' rules, France is still standing."
business@thenational.ae
UAE%20ILT20
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Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 3/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Married Malala
Malala Yousafzai is enjoying married life, her father said.
The 24-year-old married Pakistan cricket executive Asser Malik last year in a small ceremony in the UK.
Ziauddin Yousafzai told The National his daughter was ‘very happy’ with her husband.
Director: Romany Saad
Starring: Mirfat Amin, Boumi Fouad and Tariq Al Ibyari
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The Lowdown
Kesari
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
Produced by: Dharma Productions, Azure Entertainment
Directed by: Anubhav Singh
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Parineeti Chopra
Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
MATCH INFO
Argentina 47 (Tries: Sanchez, Tuculet (2), Mallia (2), De La Fuente, Bertranou; Cons: Sanchez 5, Urdapilleta)
United States 17 (Tries: Scully (2), Lasike; Cons: MacGinty)
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Red Sparrow
Dir: Francis Lawrence
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Egerton, Charlotte Rampling, Jeremy Irons
Three stars
Without Remorse
Directed by: Stefano Sollima
Starring: Michael B Jordan
4/5
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