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"German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has asked a panel of advisers to look into reform proposals for France, concerned that weakness in the euro zone's second largest economy could come back to haunt Germany and the broader currency bloc."Two officials spoke on condition of anonymity. They drafted a report on what France should do. So-called "wise men" said:
"The biggest problem at the moment in the euro zone is no longer Greece, Spain or Italy, instead it is France, because it has not undertaken anything in order to truly re-establish its competitiveness, and is even heading in the opposite direction."
Recent French economic data confirms fears. They've been "truly horrific."
Auto sales fell 13% year-over-year. Existing home sales outside Paris dropped 20% in the same period. New home sales plunged 25%.
Even high-end real estate markets collapsed. Paris apartments costing over two million euros plummeted 42% in 2012.
Since late 2007 crisis conditions began, France and Germany were "two key countries backstopping the implosion."
France now faces its own crisis. It bodes ill for the euro and EU. Germany also faces slowdown. Its economy was hard hit in 2012 Q IV. It dropped 0.5%. Annual growth fell 0.7%.
It shrank more than any time "in nearly three years as traditionally strong exports and investment slowed."
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