France is in political chaos – It has no government, massive government debt approaching 120% of GDP and an on-going fiscal deficit of 6% that is adding to the national debt
stupid is as stupid does!
Can a country survive without a parliament? France is ‘giving it a go’!
From Brave AI:
“France’s general government fiscal deficit stood at 5.8% of GDP (€169.6 billion) in 2024, a slight increase from 5.4% of GDP in 2023 and significantly higher than the 3% target required by Eurozone rules. Public debt has also reached record levels, climbing to 113.0% of GDP at the end of 2024 and hitting a new high of 117.4% of GDP by December 2025.
France is currently experiencing a prolonged political crisis stemming from a hung parliament resulting from the 2024 snap elections, where no political bloc—left, center, or far-right—secured an absolute majority.
This fragmentation has led to the collapse of three prime ministerial governments in rapid succession: Michel Barnier (ousted in December 2024), François Bayrou (ousted in September 2025), and Sébastien Lecornu (resigned in October 2025 after just 14 hours in office).
The core issue is a budgetary deadlock driven by France’s severe sovereign debt crisis, which exceeds EU limits and necessitates difficult spending cuts that rival factions refuse to support.
President Emmanuel Macron has been unable to form a stable coalition, repeatedly appointing loyalists to lead minority governments that are subsequently toppled by votes of no confidence from both the far-right National Rally and the left-wing New Popular Front.
With the current legislature unable to pass a budget or function effectively, the country faces a constitutional and economic impasse. Calls to dissolve the National Assembly and hold fresh elections are growing, though the president has resisted this option, fearing another inconclusive result that would deepen the instability.
Recent history:
“French Prime Minister François Bayrou lost a crucial vote of confidence on Monday, September 8, 2025, resulting in the collapse of his minority government just nine months after taking office. The motion failed with 364 votes against the government compared to 194 in favor in the 577-seat National Assembly, making it the first time in modern French history a prime minister has been removed via a confidence vote rather than a no-confidence motion.
Bayrou, who had called the vote himself to pressure lawmakers into backing his controversial 2026 budget plan, was ousted after failing to secure support from political rivals on both the left and right. The budget proposal, which aimed to cut €44 billion ($51 billion) in spending to reduce the deficit to 4.6% of GDP by 2026, included unpopular measures such as freezing welfare spending and scrapping two public holidays. “
French issues bear a startling resemblance to those of the UK and all other countries in the OECD.
The relevant expression is ‘up shit creek without a paddle’!
Each country in the OECD not only neds to eradicate current fiscal deficits of 3-7% of GDP, thy need to go on on a ‘war footing’ to produce FISCAL SURPLUSES of 5% for around the next TWENTY YEARS to remove the ‘knee on the neck’ that is interest on NATIONAL DEBT which is preventing economic growth and impoverishing entire nations.
Start by abolishing ‘net zero’.
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Why do you call National Rally "far right" without calling the New People's Front "far left"? I seem to remember it's got Islamists isn't it!