French press review 24 October 2015

The president of the European Central Bank believes that current monetary policy is the only way forward for Europe. He wants the Old Continent to spend even more money buying up debt. The stock marketeers are delighted. Practically everyone else remains deeply sceptical.

DR

You have to wonder about Mario Draghi. He's the president of the European Central Bank (ECB) and, according to the main story in this morning's Le Monde, he believes that there's no doubting the wisdom of current European monetary policy. In case you're wondering, that policy chiefly consists in keeping the struggling euro afloat by buying shares, bonds, government debt, old matresses, rags, bones, prams and bikes to the tune of 60 billion euros every month.

Mario thinks that figure should be increased to 80 billion and he hopes to start the new spending spree in time for Christmas.

The ECB has poured 900 billion euros into the European economy since the start of the financial crisis, and the result has been economic stagnation, Greek bankruptcy, job losses and total chaos. But that's OK, says Mr Draghi, if we keep throwing money into the system, it will soon start working again.

Basically, the European bank is printing money, hoping to reduce the value of the euro against the dollar, and thus make it easier for continental exporters to compete on the international market. The daft question is how long the ECB can go on printing paper to buy debt before somebody asks why the king is wearing no clothes.

At least his fellow money men seem to believe Mario's message. No sooner had he announced the ECB's expanded debt buying proposals that the value of shares on European stock exchanges improved dramatically.

The main story in right-wing Le Figaro features the French socialist prime minister, Manuel Valls, admitting that tax increases introduced by his government have caused considerable harm. Valls also accepts that the level of public spending remains too high and is slowing down economic recovery.

The conservative paper's editorial says this sort of public penitence is all very fine, but it doesn't let the government off the hook. The recognition of past errors now needs to be followed by a rapid change of policy.

Le Figaro claims that the tax bill has grown by 56 billion euros since 2011, most of the additional burden being carried by the middle classes.

And what has been achieved? Record levels of endebtedness and unemployment, the French economy at a standstill.

With elections on the horizon, Le Figaro does not expect any courageous decisons to be made.

On the inside pages, Le Figaro notes that today will see the vote by Catholic bishops, the Roman church's middle management, on a document outlining Catholic policy on the family. Pope Francis has been pushing for reform in several sensitive areas, the bishops have been pushing back. Both sides agree that there is a crisis for traditional marriage and the family; the divisive question is how the church should react.

The final decision will rest with the pope, but he could do with the political support of the boys on the ground. Le Fiagro's analysis suggests that he won't get it.

Le Monde continues to ruminate on the significance of this week's meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syria's Bashar al-Assad. The centrist daily thinks the core idea is to re-legitimise the "Butcher of Damascus" with a view to new elections. Putin does not seem to have any problem with the idea of voting in a country with a raging civil war, an Islamist insurrection, at least a quarter of a million dead, and millions more forced into exile. Nor of supporting a candidate who has barrel-bombed and gassed thousands of his own people.

You have to remember that Assad won the last election, in June of last year, with 88 per cent support.

Le Monde's sports supplement notes in passing that the South African rugby squad at the World Cup has 31 members, of whom just seven are non-white. Ninety per cent of the population of the so-called Rainbow Nation are themselves non-white. The management and coaching staff of the Springboks are predominantly non-black.