Macron's Fiscal Mirage Crumbles
Deutsche Welle recently reported that France's 2026 budget finally passed, ending months of political deadlock but signaling a potential end to President Macron's pro-business policies. This comes as the French deficit for 2023 hit 5.5% of GDP, significantly exceeding the 4.9% forecast. The narrative spun suggests an unexpected shortfall, prompting austerity measures like a 10-billion-euro cut to
state spending that will impact everything from energy transition to public services. What mainstream coverage omits is how predictable this outcome remains. This pattern of 'pro-business' fiscal policy—tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy, deregulation, and subsequent public spending cuts—is a familiar historical playbook. In the 1980s, the Reagan administration's 'supply-side economics'
promised prosperity but led to a doubling of U.S. national debt from $997 billion to $2.85 trillion. The inevitable austerity then falls on the public, a documented double standard where private enrichment precedes public sacrifice. Much like the UK's 'Big Bang' deregulation of financial markets in 1986, which benefited a select few while public services stagnated, Macron's approach prioritizes
capital over collective welfare. The result, consistently, is soaring national debt, not shared prosperity. The projected cuts will undoubtedly disproportionately affect France's working class, while the structural beneficiaries of Macron’s policies — large corporations and the financial sector — largely remain untouched, a stark echo of the 2008 financial crisis recovery which saw banks bailed