If things get bad enough and that would mean not just economic malaise but a food production/delivery problem, the world might witness the spectacle of 10,000,000 Frenchmen fleeing across the Mediterranean in search of a better life.
From Ambrose at the Telegraph:
France’s industrial woes deepened last month as car sales crashed 19pc and French brands lost market share at an dramatic pace, raising fears of a serious economic crisis next year once austerity hits.
Markit’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for French manufacturing remained stuck in slump in November at 44.5 and is now the weakest in the eurozone after Greece.
"The figures are shocking," said sovereign debt strategist Nicholas Spiro. "France has been sailing dangerously close to the wind for some time but is now tipping into outright contraction."
The Committee of French Automobile Producers (CCFA) said this has been the worst year for the French car industry since 1997 - and for almost half a century in total volume - with little chance of recovery next year as Paris pushes through scorched-earth fiscal tightening of 2pc of GDP to meet EU deficit targets.
Sales of French cars fell 28pc in November from a year earlier, with Citroen down 26pc and state-owned Renault down 33pc. Foreign brands fell just 7.9pc. "The middle class, which tends to buy standard French cars of between €10,000 and €20,000, has been particularly badly hit by the crisis," said the CFFA’s François Roudier
The severity of the decline stunned analysts and suggests that France has at last been engulfed by the festering crisis across the Mediterranean region....MOREAlso at the Telegraph:
French bank governor Christian Noyer calls for City of London to be sidelined as Europe's financial hub
