Maybe this story didn't get the attention the Good Soldier thought it deserved. Like Gnomad I am in the UK and keep a reasonably close eye on the news. And like Gnomad I had seen no mention of this item.

Bill D, there is little similarity between the French and German economies. The former is in a greatly more parlous state than the latter. But then few nations in the west are sitting pretty these days, and those few don't include the UK or the US.