Word: pinay
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Dates: during 1952-1952
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Twisting the lion's tail used to be diplomacy's favorite parlor game. The same rules still apply, but now it is known as plucking the eagle's feathers. Last week France's little businessman, Premier Antoine Pinay, proved himself adept at the game. By defying the U.S., he became a hero to all Frenchmen...
...long as they stick to such spendthrift habits, concluded Pinay, France should not expect the government to perform price-cutting miracles. "Ever since Henry IV,* all governments have broken their teeth on this problem [of prices]. The only solution would be an abundance of goods and the restoration of free competition. But things are not that simple, because the customer does not know how to defend himself. On the contrary, he favors high prices...
Line of Mercury. Pinay had a good talking point, but he would need results, not arguments, to convince the National Assembly, which reconvenes next month, that his government can keep its promise to balance the French budget without raising taxes. At first, Pinay did remarkably well (TIME, April 21 et seq.), but by last week his "save-the-franc" campaign had fallen afoul of man and nature. Foot-and-mouth disease, raging in central France, had ravaged cattle herds, sent beef and veal prices soaring. A hot, rainless summer reduced butter and cheese production, ripened a grape harvest so abundant...
France's 1952 budget already 200 billion francs in the red Pinay was in a tough spot...
Without additional U.S. aid (which Washington has already refused), France might soon be in for more trouble. But "Lucky" Pinay refused to be downhearted. Last month, vacationing at Aix-les-Bains in the French Alps, he ran into a gypsy in front of his hotel. The gypsy grasped the Premier's hand, studied his palm and said: "I see no change in your present political situation for at least a year or possibly two . . ." Then the gypsy traced Pinay's line of Mercury (which shows ability in the pursuit of wealth), and added: "You are going to make...