The European fiscal compact of December 2011 was imposed by force of Franco-German cooperation. But Sarkozy was up for reelection in May 2012, and his main rivals for the presidency, the Socialists, were campaigning against the agreement. That was predictable. What was less so was that the IMF itself would be calling for a rethink. In its briefing for the full meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors that would convene in Mexico City on February 25–26, 2012, the IMF’s headline was stark. The “overarching risk” to the world economy was of an intensified global “paradox of
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