How a narrative of fear over public debt aids the destruction of France's welfare state
The French government recently announced that the country's public deficit was higher than forecast, further fuelling a debate that had begun a few weeks ago about the threat posed by the country's overall public debt. In this analysis Mediapart's Romaric Godin says that the main purpose of this scary debt narrative is to justify future austerity while maintaining a flow of financial benefits to the private sector.
ItIt's a vaudeville act that is constantly replayed within the wider spectacle of the French economy. At regular intervals a cupboard opens and a horrified finance minister discovers the existence of debt obligations that he himself put in there. There then ensues a familiar scene of general panic in which doors are slammed amid talk of bankruptcy, calls for restraint and mutterings about a potential attack from the financial markets.
