The IMF’s critique is gentle compared with blistering attacks on Mr Hollande by some French commentators. Nicolas Baverez called Mr Hollande the “Gamelin of economic war”, a reference to the general who relied on the Maginot Line and oversaw the collapse in 1940. “The France of 2013 is an island of immobility, suffering from lack of leadership and strategy, just as in 1940. Hollande has placed the Republic at the mercy of the National Front and the euro,” he said.