France launches game for virtual finance ministers

[tocqueville]

Thu Jun 8, 3:07 PM ET

PARIS (Reuters) - French voters who think they can do a better job of managing the economy than Finance Minister Thierry Breton can test their skills in an Internet game that puts them at the controls of the budget.

The game, launched on Thursday on the government Web site http://www.performance-publique.gouv.fr lets players follow the path of fiscal austerity and risk choking off growth or gamble on boosting demand by spending public money.

But Budget Minister Jean-Francois Cope hopes it will show the kinds of problems faced by the real finance minister and the dangers of leaning too far either way.

Breton has forecast economic growth of between 2.0-2.5 percent this year and hopes to keep France's budget deficit below the European Union cap of 3 percent of gross domestic product for the second year in a row.

game here http://www.cyber-budget.fr/


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060608/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_france_budget