VSThis is what we call an unwelcome telescoping. At the very moment when the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, is transforming himself into the columns of World as Père Fouettard to defend budget cuts in the face of deteriorating accounts, large French companies announce spectacular profits. Even crueler: in this context of a stock market which is breaking all its records, Bercy is talking about a tightening of unemployment insurance and mentions the possibility of affecting the indexation of pensions to inflation. As if the stock market euphoria was matched by an additional precariousness of public power.
The reality is less caricatured. The CAC 40 is not the French economy, and its current performance has been built outside our borders. TotalEnergies, LVMH and Stellantis generate most of their turnover and profits abroad. Most of the winners on the French rating benefited from the good performance of the American market. A celebration of the Parisian financial center which also coincides with the sinking of two of its former tenants, Casino and Atos. They are, at this very moment, negotiating their dismantling to save what still can be of their past glory.
During their hearing at the National Assembly, Wednesday March 6, Bruno Le Maire and his Minister for Public Accounts, Thomas Cazenave, suffered a barrage of criticism from the opposition. These focused on two aspects. On the one hand, the lack of foresight of the State in its anticipation of the economic situation – the growth forecast on which it built its budget, in September 2023, was clearly too optimistic – and, on the other hand, its too great generosity towards large companies, that public authorities should help less and tax more.
Double challenge
Both attacks carefully avoid the real reason for the French budgetary deterioration: its excessive generosity during the health, then energy and inflationary crises which befell the country in the space of four years. A collective responsibility since politicians are quicker to propose spending than savings.
Faced with this contrasting situation of champions in good shape in an arena that is falling into disrepair, the temptation is great to criticize their propensity to favor their shareholders to the detriment of the community. They have never paid so much in dividends and share buybacks to the former, while the latter is faced with the dual challenge of an urgent energy transition and a geopolitical context more dangerous than ever.
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