France: No other solution than a very large fiscal deficit?

The French government now face s : Calls for additional resources for education, healthcare, the police and justice; Calls for an increase in household purchasing power ( higher welfare benefits, tax cuts), which has already driven up the fiscal deficit in 2019; A considerable borrowing requirement linked to the energy transition, which cannot all come from the private sector ( power grid, assistance for housing renovation , future technologies, support for the purchasing power of low-income households affected by the increase in the CO 2 price, etc.); Support for industries affected by the energy transition (automotive) and their employees; The need to make the pension reform acceptable; International tax competition, which is putting downward pressure on a number of taxes; The need to raise the level of housing construction. Th ere can only be one consequence to this list of needs : a significant and lasting increase in France’s fiscal deficit, and therefore a growing risk of serious problems in the event interest rates rise in the future.