Friday Finance

The lack of confidence in European bond markets raises the spectre of another crisis, similar to the 1992 episode. Some are even more pessimistic, predicting an imminent implosion of the eurozone in its current state, and an exit of the peripheral countries. However, on a consolidated basis, the fundamentals of the zone are far more reassuring than those of Japan and the USA. Should we bury the euro and the European project it underpins? Faced with the mound of debt accumulated in developed countries, how can the euro zone reassure the markets? What are the Eurogroup's exit options: further integration, renunciation of the eurozone as it stands, massive intervention by the ECB, a general austerity plan and a return to recession? What are the systemic risks created by the interdependence of European banking systems? Philippe Mabille, editor-in-chief and editorialist at La Tribune, will bring his experience and knowledge of political and economic life to bear on this debate. He is also co-author with Jean-Pierre Jouyet of "N'enterrez pas la France" (Don't Bury France), a book that runs counter to the alarmist rhetoric about France's alleged decline. Far from believing that our social model is old and doomed to disappear, these two authors propose a number of reforms designed to enable France to avoid the stall promised by the scaremongers. Jean-Pierre Jouyet and Philippe Mabille demonstrate that this country is doing better than the French generally think, because we are going through a period of change rather than decline.