I was reading the economist and came across this great bit from Charlemagne (the columnist dedicated to Europe, not the conquerer of old…http://www.economist.com/node/21532283) where he talks about the current crunch in the Eurozone.

If you’re not familiar with what is going on, the crisis is predicated on a number of countries that are in a bad way economically (Greece being the most egregious). This stems from lackadaisical management by the government and numerous other factors that I won’t bore you with. This column does a good job of characterizing the squeeze that France is currently in.

Sarkozy in particular is in a tight spot as he has to balance pushing for a more integrative financial stability model as well as ensuring France’s continued relevancy (either real or imagined) and the not insignificant fear of a French ratings downgrade. France has the highest debt and deficit ratio of the countries in the euro-zone with a AAA rating, and its banks have immense exposure to countries in southern Europe. Sarkozy is intent on making sure France maintains that rating and on keeping the boat afloat ahead of the presidential election. Good read.