Fighting Austerity: Viva la Hollande

     Today we are all Frenchmen, at least all of us who oppose austerity and the hopelessness it imposes on Europe. The French often like to invoke a heroic role for themselves as guardians and fighters for liberty and enlightenment values.

    Often this seems pretty unjustified to be sure like the anti Islam law Sarkozy passed a few years ago forbidding Muslim women to wear certain kinds of Burquas in public. Still under new French President Francois Hollande the French can do a lot as a major powerbroker in the EU to help Europe resist austerity.

    To be sure many austerity lovers confidently predicted that Hollande would fold like the Vichy regime-couldn't resist the analogy-when he met with arch austerity lover Angela Merkel. This however is what didn't happen when the two met yesterday.

    "The new government of French President François Hollande is upsetting the balance in the Franco-German relationship, threatening to block the fiscal treaty on budget discipline, and now reasserting a demand for joint euro bonds that his predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy, had given up on in deference to German Chancellor Angela Merkel."

    "It was widely believed that Mr. Hollande, like his predecessor, would quickly cave in to Ms. Merkel, but the French Socialist leader is proving more stubborn than expected and appears to be trying to drive a wedge between Germany and the rest of Europe in a bid to force Berlin to open its purse and do more to revive the flagging economies in weakened countries on the periphery of the euro zone."

       http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304791704577418352775785514.html?mod=WSJ_World_MIDDLENews

      "The focus of that battle now seems to be euro bonds, a way of allowing the rest of Europe to piggyback on Germany's strong credit rating."

      "Germany opposes joint European bonds, arguing that they would take the pressure off politicians in the euro zone to overhaul their economies."

     "Berlin says euro bonds can only be an option once euro-zone members have reined in debt and overhauled their economies."

     "But France's new government doesn't want to wait."

      To be sure euro bonds could do a lot to help the troubled country starting with most troubled Greece:

      "The idea of euro bonds is and has always been a good idea, if it gives money on cheaper and better terms than those of the [debt write-down plan] and the loan agreement," said Evangelos Venizelos, head of the Greek Socialists and former finance minister.

      Another positive development is that President Obama and Hollande are making common cause:

      "Germany came under enormous pressure to change its position on euro bonds at the Group of Eight summit in the U.S. last week, with President Barack Obama and French President Hollande forming a united front to pressure Ms. Merkel to do more to boost growth in Europe."

        "European countries who are suffering under the German-led austerity cure for the debt crisis welcome the French drive to create euro bonds. Greece, which failed to elect a stable government this month, faces a fresh election next month that could decide whether Greece remains in the euro zone."

       There you go France, they are counting on you and President Hollande to have their back. Just as you like to see yourself in your popular imagination. Viva la France! Viva la Hollande!