Word: french
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Canard's attack could not have come at a more uncomfortable time for Giscard, reports TIME Paris Bureau Chief Henry Muller. It underscored the venomous tone that French politics is taking on as the 1981 presidential election approaches. The President's popularity as well as his much vaunted reputation as a fiscal wizard have both slumped badly. According to polls published by Paris' daily France-Soir, his approval rating has dropped nine percentage points since January, to 45%. His countrymen have become increasingly angry about the austere economic policies France has pursued since Giscard named Economist Raymond...
...million, a record 6.4%* compared with 4.4% when Barre moved into the Premier's official residence, the Hôtel Matignon. Inflation, which he vowed to bring under control, has been running at an annual rate of 11.3%, vs. 9.7% in 1976. Barre has warned that the French face more, not less, belt tightening. Said he: "Next year will be very difficult. The choice is not between maintaining or increasing purchasing power, but between its maintenance and its amputation." Thanks in part to that kind of gloomy prognostication, Barre's approval rating has fallen even lower than Giscard...
...institute I.F.O.P.: "We have reached the point where discontent is so high that Barre cannot absorb it all himself." According to Jacques Attali, a leading Socialist economist, the reason is that Giscard and Barre can no longer promise light at the end of the austerity tunnel. Says Attali: "The French are losing hope." According to a survey in the business magazine L'Expansion, three out of four Frenchmen now believe that the economic crisis will be "enduring" rather than "transitory...
...dumping Barre will not be easy. Many foreign officials and businessmen view Barre as a symbol of the rigor and discipline France needs. Bankers fear that Barre's departure would diminish confidence in the French economy, frighten capital investors and cause the franc (which has held steady against the West German mark for more than a year) to tumble. In a last-ditch defense of his policies, Barre sounded an emphatic warning against false expectations. "You can replace me, but don't have any illusions," he told a meeting of Giscard's supporters among the members...
...politically more damaging statistic in France than it would be in the U.S., since French economists put full employment at about 2% jobless, compared with about...