France, once among Europe's most prosperous nations, has now slipped into "third-world status" after new figures revealed it has firmly slid into the EU's "second tier". For the third consecutive year, France's wealth per capita sits below the EU average and has now fallen beneath that of Cyprus Tax revenues are set to reach 43.9 per cent of GDP. "The mantra of our technocrats and politicians is that tax increases resolve our problems." The budget contains the same ingredients responsible for France's recent economic failures, with elevated taxation, even higher public spending, and mounting debt to cover the shortfall.(Wall Street Mav)