The English say all bad ideas come from France, but that is unfair to the Germans.
asserted
that → say → Germans
The scenes of riot and destruction from France may arise from our Gallic friends’ particular circumstances and peculiar habits, but they reflect Europe’s general malaise — one to which the United States is not immune.
uncertain
States → arise → which
The “French intifada” is overthrowing the icons of France.
asserted
intifada → overthrow → France
A statue of Joan of Arc is defiled with the Palestinian flag.
asserted
statue → defile → flag
A bust of Marianne, the icon of the French Revolution, is cast to the ground in the trashed city hall of Marseilles.
asserted
bust → cast → Marseilles
The 19th-century town hall of Limoges goes up in flames.
asserted
hall → go → flames
A thousand police and gendarmes injured.
asserted
police → injure → ?
Hundreds of businesses looted in Paris, Lyon, and Marseille.
asserted
Hundreds → loot → Paris
Schools set on fire.
asserted
Schools → set → fire
Rioters throwing roof tiles on police like they’re in “Les Misérables.”
asserted
they → throw → Misérables
And this bill has yet to land.
asserted
bill → have → ?
Though the mob may riot, the real damage will come from the markets.
uncertain
damage → riot → markets
France has the second-biggest economy in the Eurozone.
asserted
France → have → Eurozone
Its GDP shrunk by 0.2% in the first quarter of 2026.
asserted
GDP → shrink → 2026
It hit 0% in the second quarter, then grew 0.1% in the third.
asserted
It → hit → third
France’s CAC 40 is the only major European stock exchange to lose value this year.
asserted
CAC → lose → value
In the European Union as a whole, it’s 82.9%.
asserted
it → ’ → whole
Only Greece and Italy, locked by Brussels in punishing repayment schedules pour encourager les autres, have worse debt problems.
asserted
Greece → lock → problems
To meet its welfare budgets, France issues 10-year treasury bonds.
asserted
France → meet → bonds
Foreign investors hold about 60% of France’s debt.
asserted
investors → hold → debt
As the market loses confidence in France’s future, the premium on French bonds is rising.
asserted
premium → lose → bonds
It’s now at 4.78%, the highest yield in 24 years.
asserted
It → ’ → years
High yields mean higher borrowing costs for the French government.
asserted
yields → mean → government
Combine that with a paralyzed economy, a government failing to push its 2027 budget through a divided National Assembly, and the likelihood of a shock result in the 2027 presidential elections, and France is heading for a debt spiral.
asserted
France → combine → spiral
President Emmanuel Macron is caught between the mob and the markets.
asserted
Macron → catch → mob
Pacify the streets with a Napoleonic “whiff of grapeshot,” and he empowers his left-wing enemy, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who is polling second in the 2027 race for the presidency.
asserted
who → pacify → presidency
Let the mob run free, and Macron empowers his right-wing enemy, Marine Le Pen, whose lead over Mélenchon is growing.
asserted
lead → let → Mélenchon
Meanwhile, if Macron doesn’t restructure the economy, the markets will continue to bet against France.
asserted
markets → restructure → France
And nothing radicalizes the voters like bankruptcy.
asserted
nothing → radicalize → bankruptcy
For, while we are in France’s debt when it comes to cheese and wine, years of waste and paralysis have put France in everyone’s else’s debt.
asserted
years → come → debt
It is hard to praise Emmanuel Macron, harder still to like him.
asserted
It → praise → him
He is a small man, but he lacks the Napoleonic drive that, so my taller wife tells me, compensates for shortcomings.
asserted
wife → lack → shortcomings
Still, it is a matter of record that Macron warned the French they were living beyond their means, and that he did what he could, in a small way.
uncertain
he → warn → way
After beating Marine Le Pen to the presidency in 2017, Macron tried to reduce the regulatory red tape that has throttled France’s economy.
asserted
that → beat → economy
To slow the brain-drain of talented young graduates, he even converted an old railroad station into a start-up incubator for the French tech companies that, he said, would break Silicon Valley’s monopoly.
asserted
he → slow → monopoly
He boldly suggested that a 35-hour work week and 30 paid vacation days a year might place France at a competitive disadvantage.
uncertain
week → suggest → disadvantage
In 2023, he fearlessly raised the retirement age from 62, the lowest in the European Union, to 64, phasing in at a headlong three months per year over eight years.
asserted
he → raise → years
When I visited Macron’s tech incubator, the inmates moaned about a series of human rights’ abuses.
asserted
inmates → visit → abuses
How could they move fast and break things if they were wallowing on California-style bean bags?
uncertain
they → move → bags
How could the French dream big when they were banned from smoking in the building?
uncertain
they → dream → building
…and 11 more, not listed.
The Aporia
