French president Emmanuel Macron’s re-election victory may be a triumph for what remains of Europe’s pragmatic political centre, but voters in France are in no mood for more economic reform. Though increasingly angry about the state of the nation, they won’t support any leader who tries to fix what ails it most: the bloated state.
Outside a few tiny outliers and possibly communist North Korea, France’s government spends more heavily than any other in the world.
In 2017, the French had a real choice on this key issue. Macron vowed to downsize the state and his rival Marine Le Pen promised to expand it further. Voters chose Macron by a large margin, giving him what appeared to be a clear mandate for change. Ever the reluctant capitalists, the French public hit the streets in protest when Macron tried to deliver.