Whither Sarkozy’s ‘ancien régime’?, page 1

Source

The French debate about their national debt seems to have taken a new and faintly alarming turn. The lead article on the front page of yesterday’s Le Monde was headlined: “States and their debts: a brutal struggle since the Middle Ages”.

In a sub headline, the paper proclaimed: “Declare war or liquidate your creditors …some historic methods of freeing yourself from debt.” It also noted cheerily that France’s debt passed 80% of GDP in 1788. Both numbers are meant to be significant. French debt is now roughly at the 80% level and 1788 was, of course, the year before the French Revolution. As the paper notes, the whole beastly mess kicked off when Louis XVI ran out of cash and convened the Estates-General to try to deal with the state’s mounting debts. You have been warned.

French public opinion poll Source

- Basically the poll showed that 82% of French citizens surveyed were worried about the national debt in their nation which has currently reached 85% of GDP. 50% consider a reduction in the deficit a main priority of government, up from 36% at the beginning of 2010. Only a mere 24% of French want higher tax to resolve the deficit problem. -

Seeing as how the French Revolution begun in 1789, just one year after the ancien régime hit 80% debt to GDP, this should come as an obvious concern to anyone in French government. This is not to say that a Revolution would absolutely occur, because it is impossible to ever properly predict such events, but to dismiss this entirely is also a failure of judgment.