France
If there was one thing at the forefront of the minds of French voters, with the upcoming presidential election, it would be the current economic crisis focusing mainly on the failing euro. (Hey, Big Spender) This paper will summarize three articles that relate to the failing euro and the French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s role in this issue, part of a possible solution of getting it back on track in “Going Dutch” by Martin Feldstien, in the “The Failure of the Euro” from Foreign Affairs, “Hey, Big Spender” from The Economist, and Eduardo Cue, in the “Prospects Are Good for New Plan from Merkel,Sarkozy” from U.S. News and World Report. European nations are required to become integrated and unified as a whole to participate and enhance Europe’s role in world affairs abroad. One of the main ideas to begin this integration was the trial of creating a unified currency system that is now increasingly being recognized as a experiment that has vehemently failed. This failure was not an accident or the result of bureaucratic mismanagement but rather the inevitable consequences of imposing a single currency on a very heterogeneous group of countries. The adverse consequences of the failing euro on the European economies include the current debt crises, fragile conditions of numerous banks, high levels of unemployment, and large trade deficits. (Feldstein) Lately, worries about the stability of the euro reached a high as Italy's bond yield, indicative of the rate it would pay to borrow on markets, jumped to record peaks above the 7 percent margins. This level is considered unsustainable and has eventually forced Greece, Ireland and Portugal to require financial aid. Due to the widespread failing of the currency market Europe cannot afford to rescue them with the crisis falling on their doorsteps as well.
The French people tuned in to Nicolas Sarkozy’s television interview for the upcoming presidential election where he suggested a German style reform needed to fix the euro crisis, get France back to work, and restore its economy. Sarkozy states the new proposal to fight against the euro crisis calls for deeper fiscal integration through a "golden rule”, a sort of balanced budget amendment, to be written into the constitutions of all seventeen euro zone member states and impose greater central control over member nations' finances. Such a plan would likely entail oversight of member-state budgets—and a corresponding loss of sovereignty—with the understanding that such ties would facilitate the way toward sovereign risk-sharing, as through euro bonds. (The euro crisis) Any deficit those countries might run would have to less than 3 percent of Gross Domestic Product, any country exceeding this limit would suffer automatic sanctions. Sarkozy goes on to claim that this just might be the structure and discipline the euro zone needs to jump start but is not by any means a fix all solution.. (Kurtzleben)
No one is arguing that the economy everywhere is suffering but France’s attempt to implement drastic changes may be the only real solution. Over time we see that bureaucrats waste precious dollars arguing about what to do while the problems is growing out of control. Sarkozy’s suggestion of going back to the golden rule may seem like a step back politically and give the image of a firmer grip and control over the involved states but could this possibly be the change needed in order to jump start this broken engine? One thing remains firm, there is a fast growing problem when it comes to the overall health of Europe’s economic stability and focusing on the euro downturn could ultimately be the solution.
(599 Words)

Work Cited
Cue , Eduardo. “Prospects Are Good for New Plan from Merkel,Sarkozy”. U.S. News and
World Report. Decem ber 6, 2011. Web
Feldstien, Martin. “The Failure of the Euro” Foreign Affair. January 2012. Web
“Hey, Big Spender” The Economist. February 4, 2012. Web