For countries such as Greece, leaving the euro and returning to a national currency has been touted as a potential panacea for a return to competitiveness, growth and stability. However, Bulgaria, a country that devalued its currency to regain competitiveness is now seen in limbo in a "lost decade."
France may have bid adieu to one of its main cultural exports in actor Gerard Depardieu who has left the county in a protest over tax, but it is assiduously courting the international business world in order to revive the French economy.