On the verge of becoming a banana republic, as all the declinists have long been predicting, France is now borrowing on the financial markets at a higher rate than Greece, which only a few years ago was portrayed as the sick man of Europe.

Let the alarm bells ring! The case offers a powerful slogan that our peers and other players in public life would be wrong not to exploit. For all intents and purposes, MarketScreener joins the debate to broaden the perspective a little by pointing out that :

- France's two-year treasury bonds are trading at a rate of 2.25%, compared with 2% for the Greek 2-year.

- France's five-year treasury bonds are trading at 2.5%, compared with 2.3% for the Greek 5-year.

- France's 10-year Treasury bonds are trading at 2.9%, the same as the Greek 10-year.

So, the drop is neither flagrant, nor its amplitude monstrous. If it were objective and depoliticized, the market would no doubt be much tougher on France, which everyone now knows is bogus. The government continues to maintain 39 ministries (sic) at a time when it intends to impose austerity measures on its citizens.

On the other hand, comparison is not always reason, except for bond investors on the sovereign debt market - the largest financial market in the world, and the one around which all the others orbit - who are forced to arbitrate between the various alternatives that make it up.

While France is currently borrowing at a higher rate than Greece on short and medium maturities, it is borrowing at a lower rate than the United States on all maturities:

- France's two-year Treasury notes are trading at 2.25%, compared with 4.2% for the US 2-year.

- France's five-year treasuries are trading at 2.5%, versus 4.1% for the US 5-year.

- France's 10-year treasuries are trading at 2.9%, compared with 4.2% for the 10-year US.

Given its abysmal deficits - and its active use of printing money under the guise of convenient "quantitative easing" - it's easy to understand why the US borrows at a higher rate than France. Except that France is a mid-player in the global economy, while America is still the leader.