of the integration of the European Community's collective economy.
Within this informal process of continued integration, the D-Mark has retained its status as "anchor currency" of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM). It continues to hold that status in spite of efforts by the French central bank to supplant the D-Mark, or at least make the franc a competitor, by offering investors a more favorable exchange rate. The reason is that--as frustrated as political leaders in other countries may be by the rigidly conservative German monetary policies--other member nations still regard the D-Mark as the most reliable "anchor" for controlling inflation. Many European currencies, especially those of the "southern tier," have a long history of inflation and devaluation, and the increasing if informal economic integration of Europe causes the behavior of these currences to have a greater impact on the fate of the D-Mark than was the case in the past. Although the franc has in recent times been a fairly strong and stable currency, it has historically
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