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In Chirac's place, the President put a much more genial soul. Formerly Minister of Foreign Trade and for five years Vice President of the European Economic Commission, Barre was notable in the world of Gaullist grandeur for living in a small, book-lined apartment, driving an old Citroën and carrying his own luggage. A portly ex-professor, Barre is highly regarded in academic circles for his textbook entitled Economic Politique. Giscard called him "the best economist in France and therefore the best man to fight the inflation." Barre is expected to initiate spartan economic measures, like higher interest rates and guidelines limiting price and wage increases, in an effort to restore monetary stability. To that end, he reserved the Economy and Finance portfolio in the Cabinet for himself. On the foreign front he is likely to echo Giscard's cordial internationalism, particularly toward the U.S. and the Common Market, in contrast to Chirac's brand of Gaullist nationalism. To soothe the Gaullists somewhat, Barre named Olivier Guichard—a Gaullist party baron and bitter Chirac rival—as Justice Minister. As to how the new Giscard-Barre team will get their measures past the National Assembly, the President thinks he has a solution: the Gaullists have no choice but to back him. So far, the party's reaction has been encouraging. But the fact remains that the new government is subject to overthrow from either right or left—a situation the Fifth Republic was specifically designed to prevent.