Monday, January 28, 2013

France "Totally Bankrupt" Says Labour Minister; Inappropriate or Inaccurate?

Sometimes the truth comes from the strangest of places (like ranking government officials). I must say it's refreshing to see a bit of honesty, even if it is immediately denied elsewhere.

Please consider France 'totally bankrupt', says labour minister Michel Sapin.
France's labour minister sent the country into a state of shock on Monday after he described the nation as “totally bankrupt”.

Michel Sapin made the gaffe in a radio interview, which left French President Francois Hollande battling to undo the potential reputational damage.

“There is a state but it is a totally bankrupt state,” Mr Sapin said. “That is why we had to put a deficit reduction plan in place, and nothing should make us turn away from that objective.”

Pierre Moscovici, the finance minister, said the comments by Mr Sapin were “inappropriate”.
Inappropriate or Inaccurate?

Forced to select one of those two choices, one would have to vote for inappropriate. However, it would be better yet to admit the truth, which labour minister Sapin clearly did.

Unfortunately, finance minister Moscovici was not content to step aside, allowing citizens to decipher the meaning of the word "inappropriate". Instead, he fired off a set of three blatant lies: “France is a really solvent country. France is a really credible country, France is a country that is starting to recover.”

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com