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In an article published on Saturday April 2, the prestigious British weekly “The Guardian” praises French economic policy on the five-year term of Emmanuel Macron in an article entitled “Lower inflation, better jobs… in France life is beautiful”. (“Down inflation, better jobs… in France life is good”).
Inflation, at the heart of the concerns of the French less than a week before the first round, is certainly high, from the top of its 4.5% at the beginning of March, but it remains very low compared to that recorded among its European neighbors (6.2% in the United Kingdom, 7.3% in Germany, 9.8% in Spain and 11.9% in the Netherlands) develops the Guardian.
“More people are working than before the pandemic”
“By most economic criteria – national income, business investment, consumer spending, labor supply and rising prices – France sits at or near the top of the wealthy nations peloton,” writes the Guardian. And “contrary to most forecasts, its economy grew 1% above pre-pandemic levels last year”, where The United Kingdom is still stagnating at 0.1% below the pre-pandemic level.
“More people are working in France than before the pandemic, while in the UK around 500,000 people, mostly over 50, have left the labor market, worsening shortages”, continues the British weekly.
“In France, we used to be very top-down, but today we are more bottom-up, which allows workers to negotiate solutions with companies. Training is no longer decided by the unions, the workers choose what to do, as they do in Germany, ”describes to our colleagues from across the Channel the economist and former adviser to President Philippe Aghion. Emmanuel Macron “understands and believes in entrepreneurs. We are now halfway to creating the business ecosystem we need,” continues the Secretary of State for Digital, Cédric O.
A rise in the standard of living to the detriment of the poorest
The only downside for the Guardian is the influence of the president-candidate’s spending on the French debt, which has gone “from less than 100% to 115% of national income in two years. Here again, this is a lesser evil for the weekly: “The money is being spent to restructure the economy and free companies from historically high taxes”, according to Oxford economist Daniela Ordonez for whom “the increased investment and job creation will pay dividends. »
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Many observers testify to a positive economic assessment for Emmanuel Macron at the end of his five-year term, like the Institute of Public Policies (IPP), which recalled in a study last November that the majority of households have seen their income – deducted from taxes and social benefits – increase since 2017, with an annual average of 397 euros (+ 1.6%). But this rise in the standard of living has been made to the detriment of the poorest… According to IPP economists, the poorest 5% of households have lost up to 0.5% of purchasing power, i.e. up to to 39 euros in one year, while the wealthiest 1% have seen their standard of living increase by 2.8% since 2017.
What does it matter, in France “life is beautiful”, and “if even the English say so…”, it must be somewhat true, as the spokesperson for En Marche rejoiced and deputy Roland Lescure on Twitter, delighted to be able to defend the economic program of the outgoing president through the prism of the foreign press while the McKinsey affair and the government’s spending (2.4 billion euros) on consulting firms are already costing points to Emmanuel Macron in the polls of voting intentions less than a week before the first round.