By Nick Fagge PUBLISHED: 07:51 EST, 16 November 2012 | UPDATED: 19:51 EST, 16 November 2012 Rebuttal: The Economist ran a feature which irritated French officials because it implied they could bring down the euro Touchy French politicians yesterday launched  a blistering attack on a prestigious British business magazine after it branded France 'the time-bomb at the heart of Europe'. The front cover of The Economist this week shows seven baguettes wrapped in the red, white and blue ribbon of the French Republic with a lit fuse protruding from the centre. Its lead article says President Francois Hollande's plans to cut France's public debt are not ambitious enough, jeopardising the future of the euro.
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Front cover showed seven baguettes tied up in a tricolour like sticks of dynamite with a lit fuse
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Industry minister compared The Economist to French magazine which ran cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad naked
In its analysis, @placeholder claims that membership of the single currency has acted as a straitjacket on France because it means the country  cannot allow its currency to devalue.