France’s prime minister, François Bayrou, has proposed scrapping two public holidays as part of radical measures aimed at reducing the country’s ballooning deficit, boosting its economy and preventing it being “crushed” by debt.
Outlining the 2026 budget on Tuesday, Bayrou suggested Easter Monday and 8 May, when France commemorates Victory Day, marking the end of the second world war, although he said he was open to other options.
The centrist prime minister said: “The entire nation has to work more so that the activity of the country as a whole increases, and so that France’s situation improves. Everyone will have to contribute to the effort.”
France is under pressure to bring its public deficit, running at 5.8% of GDP, under the 3% figure required by EU rules, and to rein in €3.3tn of public debt – on which the annual interest, of €60bn, could soon become its biggest budget outlay.
I’m French. I want them 100 times more effective. You have no idea how much the rich French love tax optimization (and fraud – it’s been estimated to 100+ bn/year a few years ago).
The average fortune growth of the top 500 French families for the last 20 years is 14% a year. They can spare a dime.
Not to mention that I keep hearing stories about the IRS getting budget cuts. You guys just have a seemingly-mistaken impression that the IRS knows it all because they have citizens run the numbers while also doing the math themselves due to corporate lobbying from turbotax and the like, but it’s actually a good thing when your tax office has good information. Y’all should concern yourselves with how politicians make them use it.
But they should reduce pensions because it only benefits older people who could be used for more research, defense and infrastructure.
If income increases, but you don’t manage it well, the problem won’t be solved.
Yeah, so imagine. Wild idea here, we tax the rich. To increase the income of the government. Who can invest in the working and middle class, who can then have disposable income to stimulate the economy. Just a crazy theory I have there that has been shown to work every time it’s been implemented. Crazy right? It’s been 50 fucking years, it doesn’t trickle down Reagan.
why not just lift the age limit of pensions to 90, right?
Originally, pensions were only meant to provide incentives, because many people didn’t reach that age. Now that there are so many older retirees, it’s becoming a burden that, if not addressed, will be catastrophic for the government.
That is absolutely not true and just part of the red-pills psyop to radicalise young men, who don’t actually understand what the welfare state is, or why it’s important. Kindly go listen to Joe Rogan on your next jog off a cliff.
incentives for what? to pay taxes? are you implying that pension should go back to be a big scam on society?
the solution is certainly not to abolish the pension system. nobody wants to work when they can barely anymore, and this is not frostpunk or something to justify that.
of course, the money could go to wherever else to increase efficiency, or whatever. but hopefully the goal is not to make the most efficient society, where the “uncapable” (and also the non-exploitable-anymore) are left to suffer and die, but the most human society. otherwise we could just defund healthcare, all kinds of aids too, because they are just taking away resources from The Capables, right?
No, rather, a new solution must be found. Because the demographic pyramids have been inverted, which has made pensions a problem for government finances.
We have time to maneuver, but if this isn’t resolved, we’ll reach the point where we’ll prioritize the Capable and leave the Incapable to chance.