this post was submitted on 18 Oct 2026
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[–] manxu@piefed.social 70 points 1 day ago (43 children)

On the ground in France for Lemmy News International right now.

France is kind of fucked. Politically, the centrist president is termed out of office, and there is no charismatic centrist replacement. The alternatives are the left under a very unpopular candidate and the right under an extremely unpopular candidate.

France has been running a massive deficit for decades and has some of the hightest debt burden on earth. It also has, right now, one of the highest interest rates of any major economy. The only way out is either massive increases in taxation or massive austerity measures.

The centrist government tried tepid austerity measures a short while ago (increase the retirement age from 62 to 64) and was met with absolutely massive protests. Parliament tried to pass a wealth tax (Zucman tax, named after a famous economist) but failed.

The left and the right both plan massive increases in spending if they win the election. If the left wins, that means the wealth tax is back; if the right wins, that means services are going to be cut.

The French political class is absolutely terrified of increasing taxes on the wealthy, because it is afraid wealthy people will leave the country en masse. It is the only realistic way out of the mess, though.

[–] ParadoxSeahorse@lemmy.world 75 points 1 day ago (28 children)

wealthy people will leave the country en masse

I find this so strange, wealthy people actually bring very little into an economy, and most will live wherever the fuck they want, they see taxes as just the price of doing business. It’s only right wing politicians and right wing wealthy people that keep this myth alive.

[–] mefisdo_dot_info@lemmy.ca 13 points 1 day ago

They cannot take their factories, mines, shops, etc with them. They may take their money, but their money is usually tied to their business. If their business is nationalized, because they left it behind, their wealth suddenly is backed by nothing.

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