Word: francs
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Flouting the Rules. The key question for this week is whether this package will even temporarily stop speculation against the dollar, or merely concentrate it in other currencies-the Swiss franc, for example. Swiss officials have said that they will never float their currency, but that if Germany floats the mark the Swiss franc may be formally revalued. Forced floating or revaluation of one currency after another under crisis conditions could generate growing confusion as to what any currency was worth; it could lead, theoretically, to a paralysis of world trade and investment. In any case, last week...
...relative prosperity is testimony to an economic turnaround. Only 17 months ago, France was beset by inflation; it arose from the student-worker riots of 1968, after which a 15% wage increase was necessary to restore tranquillity. The danger of a runaway price-wage spiral and loss of confidence in the economy seemed so acute that Finance Minister Valéry Giscard d'Estaing brought out every modern anti-inflationary weapon: a devaluation of the franc, tight credit controls, the highest interest rates in Europe, a temporary price freeze and a strict limit on wage increases...
Arms and the Exporter. The austerity measures were startlingly effective. Since devaluation, the franc has become one of Europe's solidest currencies. The gross national product grew by 6.2% last year, to $126 billion, while prices rose only 5.2%. Leading companies threw their energies into exports, which increased 21%. Arms exports boomed. In 1970, France sold $1.3 billion worth of military aircraft, submarines, helicopters and other equipment to 26 countries. France ranks second only to the U.S., which expects to sell $1.9 billion worth of armaments abroad in the fiscal year ending June...
...Georges Pompidou, to attend the opening of the Vasarely Foundation in Gordes, a combination research center and public museum containing 1,500 ; of Vasarely's works. To house the foundation, the city rented " to the painter the massive 16th century Chateau de Gordes for a symbolic one franc a year...
...than in Canada (4.7%) or in most other industrial countries. The U.S. dollar is the standard of value against which all other currencies are measured. But its purchasing power is shrinking faster than that of other important moneys, which is a major reason why the Canadian dollar, Swiss franc and the Dutch guilder have lately looked "undervalued...