Europe: The Battle for the Franc

As Mitterranomics fails, the French swallow bitter medicine

If there was ever a time when the French looked for a display of leadership, it was last week as President Francois Mitterrand addressed the country to explain the painful consequences of the French franc's third devaluation in 22 months of Socialist government. Speaking on nationwide television, Mitterrand faced a public also confused by a slow-motion Cabinet reshuffle in which, after days of hesitation and debate among his advisers, the President had anticlimactically reappointed Premier Pierre Mauroy, 54, to head a streamlined government composed...

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