Word: franc
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...FRANC I. OBIKA...
...France is in even worse shape economically. Though France is enjoying an industrial boom, with production up 31% since 1953 v. 28% for West Germany, prices and wages have soared twice as fast. Thus, with demand outstripping supply, imports have climbed so high that France's trade balance showed a $575 million deficit during the first seven months of 1956 v. $49 million surplus last year. Financiers argue that France should devalue its franc (officially 350 to the dollar, actually 405 and up) to boost exports, and take drastic steps to clean economic house. But France...
...trouble began months ago when France's 63,000 neighborhood bakers decided that the 45 francs (about 14?) the government allowed them to charge for a pound of bread did not give them enough profit. The bakers asked for an increase of one franc a pound in the ceiling price. The best they could get out of the government was a compromise offer to lower flour taxes and thereby increase the profit margin by about half a franc per pound...
...Billion-Franc Bet. Last week, at the start of Deauville's most fashionable fortnight, André prowled his domain from 9 a.m. to 4 a.m. each day, checking the activities of his 2,000 employees (per capita wine allowance: 5 gals. a season), the kitchens that dish out one ton of roast beef and 30 lbs. of caviar a day, the cellars from which 20,000 bottles of champagne flow each season...
Deak figures that the best bargain in New York is in currencies of countries that have no import limits, although their official rates stand much higher than the free rate. Among these are France's franc (which was selling in the U.S. last week at 395 to the dollar, v. 350 in Paris), Bolivia's boliviano (5,5°° ". 190), Argentina's peso. Even where limits exist-as in Spain, Finland, Turkey-tourists can take in the legal amount and still make a saving. Where money is stable and the saving small, travelers still find...