French press review 1 July 2015

The battleground of the Greek economy continues to gets the editorial snipers' trigger-fingers itching. No one seems to know what will happen next. Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz says he'd vote "no" but he hasn't an idea what will really change if the Greeks do just that.

The print edition of Le Monde says that Syriza Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the European Union are locked in a battle for the hearts, minds and life savings of the Greek people.

The latest opinion poll suggests that Alexis currently has the edge, 54 per cent of those asked saying they will vote "no" in Sunday's referendum on the demands of Greece's creditors, with 33 per cent favouring a "yes". The gap has closed considerably since Athens shut down the country's banks to prevent a cash drought.

Right-wing Paris paper Le Figaro notes that negotiations are continuing behind the scenes, even though Athens is technically in arrears since midnight on its repayments to the International Monetary Fund.

The right-wing daily notes that 20,000 people marched yesterday in Athens in support of a "yes" vote.

Over at communist L'Humanité, the headline reads "Greek dignity demands a 'no'." Greek political stability as well, if we're to believe the local trade unionist quoted by the Communist Party daily. He says the creditors don't want a solution, they don't want to listen to the Greek people, they want to get rid of the only European government which has had the courage to stand up to the technocrats in Brussels.

The problem is that neither side has any idea what will happen next.

What is sure is that Greece can't, for the moment, hope for any more money from the International Monetary Fund. And access by Athens to the European salvage sack is also cut off, depriving the Greek government of 16 billion badly needed euros.

L'Humanité notes that Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, says he believes the debate has more to do with power and democracy, less with money and the economy. Stiglitz says a "yes" vote next Sunday will condemn Greece to practically endless economic depression. In contrast, a "no" will at least give the cradle of democracy a chance to take charge of its own fate, leaving the Greeks the opportunity to construct a future rich in hope.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel continues to chew the wasp, saying that Germany will veto any aid plan in advance of Sunday's result, suggesting that if the Greeks come up with the wrong answer there won't be any aid plan afterwards either.

The stock markets are brittle: the German and French exchanges continued to suffer major cash outflows yesterday, with those in Italy, Spain and Portugal doing relatively better.

France, I'm afraid, is not doing well at all.

The main headline in Le Figaro warns that the public debt is accelerating, having grown by 52 billion euros over the past three months to reach the enormous sum of 2,100 billion euros. That's 98 per cent of what the country can produce in a good year.

The figures already represent a tragic record, says Le Figaro, and they are based on historically low interest rates. If rates start to climb again, even by one per cent, the debt will automatically put on weight at the rate of about seven billion euros per year by 2017. At which stage, says Figaro, France will be spending more on servicing its debt than on educating its children.

Speaking of whom, Catholic daily La Croix wonders how much it costs to have a child in contemporary France. The question is asked because recent government cost-cutting efforts mean that, starting today, as many as half a million households will see their childrens allowances sharply reduced.

The idea of the reform was to end the traditional egalitarian one allowance for all, a system which made no distinction between the nation's children. The new rules should do more to help poor and single-parent families. Those who will "suffer" the most under the changes are families with a net monthly income of 8,000 euros, which should allow them to suffer in some comfort.

In the end, La Croix can't calculate the cost of a child, saying there are too many variables. They do quote Swedish researchers who suggest it'll cost you a minimum of 100,000 euros to get your offspring to the age of 18.