Translation of the article in French by Jacques Rouchaud
Two destinies at the summit of finance, a France ever deeper in debt: where are the results?
Has France entrusted its future to those who know finance best, without obtaining the economic results expected?
That is a question the French are entitled to ask.
In 2017, Emmanuel Macron became President of the Republic. His career in the General Inspectorate of Finance, then in investment banking, notably at Rothschild, helped build his image as a man in command of economic and financial mechanisms.
His career was therefore largely associated with the world of finance and economics. The French could legitimately expect from this experience rigorous management of the State, better control of spending and an economic strategy capable of strengthening national production.
Two years later, in 2019, Christine Lagarde took over the presidency of the European Central Bank. Her career is just as important: French Minister of the Economy and Finance, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, then head of the European monetary institution.
Two French figures at the summit of financial responsibilities. One leads France. The other presides over the main monetary institution of the euro area. One could almost nickname them the king and the empress of finance.
But a fundamental question arises: what are the real results for France?
1. Emmanuel Macron: from the banking world to the leadership of France
Emmanuel Macron did not reach the presidency without financial experience. He worked at the General Inspectorate of Finance, joined investment banking, then served as Minister of the Economy before becoming president.
Yet the public accounts remain deeply unbalanced. French public debt has continued to rise and the deficit remains large.
This raises a question of political responsibility: after several years at the head of the State, what record can be presented in terms of controlling public spending?
Knowing finance is not enough to manage a country well. Leading a nation requires understanding production, businesses, work, the territories and the real needs of the population. Finance is a tool. It does not, by itself, constitute an economic policy.
2. Christine Lagarde: from Bercy to the summit of European finance
Christine Lagarde also has an important career in international financial institutions. Minister of the Economy and Finance from 2007 to 2011, she then led the IMF for eight years. In November 2019, she took over the presidency of the European Central Bank for an eight-year term.
She thus finds herself at the head of an institution that is decisive for the monetary policy of the euro area. But an essential distinction must be made: the ECB does not manage France’s budget. It conducts the monetary policy of the euro area, notably with regard to price stability.
Christine Lagarde is therefore not responsible, on her own, for France’s deficits. On the other hand, her career and her responsibilities raise a broader question about the place occupied by the major financial institutions in the decisions that influence the European economy.
What place remains for the productive economy, for businesses, employees and citizens in the face of the power of financial mechanisms?
3. Two prestigious careers, but one unavoidable question: the results
Here is the heart of the problem. According to the figures published by INSEE for 2025, the French public deficit reached 152.5 billion euros and public debt about 3,460.5 billion euros, or 115.7% of GDP. Public spending represents about 57.3% of GDP.
These figures should challenge us. France has a large economy, high-performing businesses, considerable human resources and a recognised production capacity. Yet it continues to finance a large part of its functioning through debt.
It is not a matter of claiming that two people are responsible for all the country’s difficulties. It is a matter of calling to account a system in which responsibilities are many, decisions complex and results sometimes difficult to identify.
Should proclaimed financial competence be considered a guarantee of good management?
Professional experience, titles and prestigious positions never exempt anyone from the obligation to account for results.
4. France does not need a new financial miracle
France does not need to find a new financial formula to hide its difficulties. It must begin by looking at its spending, examining its usefulness and taking back control of its functioning.
- How much does our administrative organisation really cost?
- How many structures are involved in the same missions?
- Which expenditures bring no sufficient result?
- Why is the effectiveness of public money not systematically measured?
- Why is more responsibility not given to those who know the realities of the territories?
We must stop confusing spending with investing. A euro spent is not necessarily a useful euro. A euro invested in a productive business, effective training, indispensable infrastructure or an innovation can, on the contrary, help create new wealth.
The priority must be to reduce unjustified spending and to use with precision the resources produced by France and its people.
5. The wealth of a country is not found in the offices of finance
It is found first of all in the men and women who work: in the businesses that manufacture, the farmers who produce, the craftsmen who build, the researchers who innovate and the entrepreneurs who take risks.
It is found in the territories. France must regain an organisation that values skills and makes those who take decisions responsible.
We must move from a logic of permanent distribution of budgets to a logic of production, control and results.
This is precisely one of the fundamental reflections of Demosciocracy: to place knowledge, skills, responsibility and truth back at the heart of how society functions.
The management of a country must not be a matter of institutional prestige. It must be a matter of measurable results for the population.
Conclusion: financial power must never make us forget the people
Emmanuel Macron and Christine Lagarde have both reached the highest responsibilities in their respective fields. Their careers bear witness to the considerable place occupied by finance in French and European institutions.
But France cannot be reduced to its banks, its financial markets and its monetary institutions. It is made up of millions of people who work, produce, undertake and help finance its functioning. They are the ones who must remain at the centre of all decisions.
The question is therefore not who best masters financial mechanisms. The question is how to use intelligently the wealth produced by the country.
We must reduce useless spending, make decision-makers responsible, simplify structures and invest in what really creates value.
We do not need a king of finance or an empress of finance to promise us a better future. We need an organisation that knows how to respect, protect and make fruitful the work and the intelligence of its people.
France must regain its sense of responsibility. For a nation is not judged by the height of its leaders in financial institutions, but by the quality of life it offers its inhabitants and by the future it prepares for its children.
LIBERTY – EQUALITY – TRUTH
The true wealth of a nation is its people. The first responsibility of those who lead it is never to forget that.
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