4 ms·
France hasn't really benefited much. Italy has been the talking point for a long time and rightly so for the amount of debt plus the chronic political instabili
by manu_te 4y ago
France hasn't really benefited much. Italy has been the talking point for a long time and rightly so for the amount of debt plus the chronic political instability, but France is very much on a similar decline path.
Edit: cheap Russian gas + high productivity + political stability + undervalued currency (the Deutsche mark would have been way stronger than the euro) is what fueled German dominance in Europe. Italy/France/Spain/Greece/Portugal all struggled with varying degrees with low productivity, political instability (apart from France) and a currency that was too strong for their macro-economic fundamentals.
- mytailorisrich 4y agoFrance has a talent for self-harm although they are not the only ones. Ultimately, Germany succeeded better because they acted better and more productively.
- tkk23 4y agoTo spell it out: >President François Mitterrand argued for the single currency because he hoped to bolster French influence in an EU that would otherwise fall under the sway of a unified Germany https://www.economist.com/leaders/2012/11/17/the-time-bomb-at-the-heart-of-europe https://www.economist.com/leaders/2012/11/17/the-time-bomb-a...