TAXING THEIR WAY TO GROWTH?:

Tax cuts postponed as France bows to Brussels on deficits (Richard Carter, 7/16/04, EU Observer)

French President Jacques Chirac will go back on an electoral promise to cut income taxes in an effort to move the French budget deficit to within acceptable levels for Brussels.

One of the main promises Mr Chirac made to the French electorate before elections in 2002 was that income taxes would be cut, but he has now announced that he will postpone these cuts for a year. [...]

But postponing tax cuts will be unpopular with voters and could reduce French competitiveness to outside investors, further slowing already sluggish growth.