'So much for les trente glorieuses': French nostalgic for prosperity era

If Greece is a far-off country whose internal affairs would not normally receive a second thought, there is growing recognition in France that trouble is looming closer to home.

MARSEILLE, FRANCE // Even as the French president and German chancellor vented their fury on the Greeks in Cannes, and speculation centred on the survival of the euro, many in France were yearning for the franc.

The French were attached to their national currency, not surprisingly since they had been using it for two centuries when the single currency took over in 1999.

For many years after the "new franc" replaced the old franc in 1960, with each unit worth 100 of its predecessor, a sizeable minority went on using the former currency in everyday conversation. Confusing as this was for foreigners, the practice lingered, especially among the older generation, until the euro's arrival.

The Greek crisis, and the threat it poses initially to the whole eurozone and ultimately the world economy, has reinforced views commonly heard on French lips.

"Prices went up but our wages never followed," said a disgruntled supermarket cashier in the Mediterranean resort of Le Lavandou.

"So much for les trente glorieuses," said Gérard, a retired insurance official in the southern city of Montpellier, in a reference to the 30 years of post-war growth that included the earlier development of what is now the European Union.

And the impact of economic chaos on French banks - BNP Paribas has just announced third-quarter profits slashed by 72 per cent after writing down €12 billion (Dh60.7bn) of exposure to Greece, Spain and especially Italy - has people worried about their savings.

The shopworker's view is echoed by Marine Le Pen, populist leader of the far-right, anti-immigration Front National, which favours gradual withdrawal from the eurozone. For Ms Le Pen, France's 12-year experience of the single currency has brought only dwindling spending power.

And if Greece is a far-off country whose internal affairs would not normally receive a second thought, there is growing recognition that trouble is looming closer to home.

"It is not as if we're in the classroom and, when the naughty pupil is put in the corner, everyone else calms down," Alain Henriot, deputy director the Coe-Rexecode economic research institute, told the daily newspaper Le Parisien. He sees Italy as the next troublemaker: "despite budgetary cuts made at crisis point, the country has no prospect of strong growth … and is the third biggest eurozone economy with five times the Greek debt."

Nor is there confidence in France that the juggernaut of economic calamity would stop at the Franco-Italian border.

Denouncing Mr Sarkozy's "lamentable attempt to intimidate" Greece into abandoning its referendum, a reader posting as "Alex Six" said on the conservative Le Figaro's website: "He pretends to be the saviour [of Europe] when France is financially in a situation as catastrophic as that of Greece."

Mr Sarkozy's domestic policies, and a series of scandals targeting close allies and even him, have already given him lowly poll ratings. He needs a spectacular recovery to win next spring's presidential elections, and doubts about his handling of the euro crisis could make that impossible.

France, not unlike Greece, has a rebellious streak, the voice of the street frequently challenging edicts decreed by the political establishment. And when Mr Sarkozy's opponents on the left and centre hear him lecturing Greece, they recall the 2005 French referendum that rejected a proposed new EU constitution.

Mr Sarkozy, in the defeated "Yes" camp, made renegotiation of the treaty part of his 2007 presidential campaign. But the revised constitution was voted through by parliament, not a further referendum, leaving many sceptical.

"Let us hope the Greeks are more respectful of the result of their referendum," said one contributor to an internet forum. And as for Greece's right to hold such a poll, Olivier Picard, a columnist writing in Le Progrès, based in France's third city, Lyon, declared: "A referendum, the highest form of expression of the people, is never questionable or wrong."

A recent poll conducted by the French researchers Opinion Way found 83 per cent distrusted political leaders and just under half wanted fundamental changes to capitalism.

The Greek debt crisis has deepened unease and made radical solutions more attractive.

"Among my friends and colleagues, plenty now think we should pull out of the euro," said Georges Martin, a bank worker from the city of Le Mans, south-west of Paris. "I remember what inflation was with the franc so am, for now, against it.

"But I do feel the eurozone, with such an uneven mix of economies, has been allowed to grow too quickly. What I fear most is contagion, and the risk of a downgrading of France's Triple A credit rating. As for Greece, I think dishonesty has played a large part, from the government's false accounting to the manoeuvres of the rich to avoid paying tax. It could end in revolution."