“Deficits cannot be attributed to the competence or incompetence of governments” | EUROtoday

PDuring the parliamentary debates on the 2026 finance regulation, a query arose: are French politicians unhealthy managers for having allowed the debt to develop through the years? If this query is reputable, it identifies false culprits. Indeed, a glance again at our previous and the studying of some scientific research which analyze the causes of debt result in a transparent remark: deficits can’t be attributed to the competence or incompetence of governments. They rely above all on the foundations that apply to political decision-making. Strong citizen management over tax choices helps to revive budgetary self-discipline and promotes extra affordable use of public funds.

On the eve of the 2002 presidential election, the outgoing president, Jacques Chirac, set a transparent course: “We should comprise the evolution of public deficits. Everyone is aware of that the extreme deficits of immediately could be the taxes and deep cuts of tomorrow. » Once elected, and whereas he loved a snug majority in Parliament, his authorities produced round 300 billion euros of further debt in 5 years.

The French then opted for a change of individual, and, above all, of technique. Nicolas Sarkozy, throughout his 2007 presidential marketing campaign, then provided an alternate resolution for the same prognosis: “Our public funds are in poor situation. But it’s not by doing nothing that we’ll cut back the deficits and repay the debt. It is by reforming, it’s by investing, it’s by working extra that France will cut back its deficits, repay its public debt and pay its pensions. » Unfortunately, this formulation remained a lifeless letter: the Sarkozy five-year time period (2007-2012) elevated the general public debt by greater than 600 billion euros – an evaluation definitely linked to the financial disaster of 2008.

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