Certainly the tight-money Duisenberg years were not kinds to either France or Germany, though this is arguably because of Duisenberg's historical deference to the Buba and their tight money, strong currency bias (irrespective of whether this is good for Germany or not) which is probably why he was Germany's first choice for the post. Trichet has been better for France, but again, imho, this is relative, and certainly the strong Euro is not good for France like it is for Germany.

The Hun is always either at your throat or at your feet. Winston Churchill