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France Dissolves Government
French president Francois Hollande dissolved the government on Monday, marking the second reshuffle (FT)
of his beleaguered Socialist government in six months following an
internal cabinet dispute over the direction of the country's stagnant
economy. The move comes after the resignation of Prime Minister Manuel Valls (Guardian), who accused the outspoken economy minister, Arnaud Montebourg, of crossing a line with his blunt criticism (AFP)
of the government's policies. France, with an unemployment rate of
roughly ten percent and virtually no growth, is under heavy pressure from the European Union (France24) to adopt austerity measures in order to kick-start its growth.
Analysis
"It
is possible to argue, as Paul Krugman has been doing lately, that the
French crisis is overstated, even by the French, and that the top-heavy
French state—which we are all supposed to sneer at and mock as we drive
around in our Cadillacs—is actually performing pretty well through the crisis, at least as well as the grimly austere one of Britain," writes Adam Gopnick for the New Yorker.
"Polls suggest that Mr Sarkozy would beat Mr Hollande if a run-off between them were held today—and
do better that Mr Hollande against the National Front's Marine Le Pen
were she the rival second-round candidate," writes the Economist. | 
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