France's lower house of parliament late Tuesday ratified the EU accord for a permanent rescue fund, the European Stability Mechanism, with a lending capacity of E500 billion. Given the government's comfortable majority in the National Assembly, the outcome was not in doubt. The only uncertainty was how the opposition Socialist Party would vote. While the Socialists favor the creation of bigger firewalls to contain the sovereign debt crisis, many on the left of the party reject the parallel inter-governmental treaty, known as the "Fiscal Compact," establishing tougher controls on national budgets with ... (full story)