@sophiepedder.bsky.social
Paris Bureau Chief, The Economist. Author of “Revolution Française: Emmanuel Macron and the quest to reinvent a nation” (Bloomsbury)
Our cover this week
“Europe should take heart and recognise its own strength. Its military budget is already four times larger than Russia’s; its economy is ten times larger. Far from shying away from a financial contest with the Kremlin, Europe should embrace it—and win the war”
Roland Lescure knows full well what outsiders make of France’s messy politics. The best way to reassure investors is to “show the world that we’re not just a bunch of Gauls in a village fighting tooth and nail”, he says
30.10.2025 17:25 — 👍 13 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 1
Suspending France’s pension reform has dismayed many centrists. In an interview with The Economist @rolandlescure.bsky.social, the new 🇫🇷 finance minister, argues that “It’s the price of compromise and it’s the price of political stability”
economist.com/europe/2025/...
Correction: José Sócrates, former Portuguese Prime Minister, served time in jail in 2014. Apologies for the error!
22.10.2025 13:03 — 👍 11 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
“An analysis of 40 museum thefts in 1990-2022 shows that the most common is a stealth raid: thieves make off with artworks without alerting security agents. “Smash-and-grab” raids, like that at the Louvre, are next. Less than half the stolen items are ever recovered”
economist.com/culture/2025...
This morning France puts a former president, Nicolas Sarkozy, behind bars at the Prison de la Santé in Paris. Collaborators apart, no western European president or prime minister has ever been to jail in post-war times
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
“The belt-tightening needed to stabilise the debt-to-GDP ratio in 🇫🇷 is >3% of GDP….Of G7 economies only 🇨🇦 enjoys low debt, a small necessary adjustment and the space to raise taxes. 🇫🇷 looks bad by all 3 measures”
Timely analysis of the risks of public debt by my colleague @curr.bsky.social
France’s Fifth Republic, shaped to de Gaulle’s towering persona, has failed to shield the country from the parliamentary turmoil it was designed to bring to an end
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
Corrected !
16.10.2025 10:31 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0The new 🇫🇷 prime minister Lecornu survives his first censure motion, by just 18 votes, and thanks to the Socialists. The irony is that Macron always wanted to peel them away from Mélenchon’s hard left. But what circumstances, what fragility, and what a price
Votes for censure: 271
Votes needed: 289
France’s new prime minister is…the very one who resigned on Monday, Sébastien Lecornu. It rounds off the most chaotic and absurdist week in French politics in modern times
10.10.2025 20:07 — 👍 91 🔁 21 💬 8 📌 13
Despite everything else going on, France last night honoured Robert Badinter, the former justice minister who ended the death penalty in 🇫🇷 in 1981. He entered the Panthéon in a moving moment of national tribute that the French do so well
10.10.2025 16:47 — 👍 126 🔁 22 💬 3 📌 0
Desperately seeking someone
After the most chaotic week in modern political life France is still searching for a prime minister
economist.com/europe/2025/...
For sure, Macron’s troubles are partly of his own making. But there is something immensely sad about a pro-European leader and standard-bearer for the democratic centre ending up with such a political mess
08.10.2025 16:11 — 👍 72 🔁 11 💬 9 📌 3Exactly what you need to know when you need to know it-- no fuss no muss.
Chapeau!
What next for France after it loses its fourth prime minister in little over a year
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
What an absolute mess. The new 🇫🇷 PM Sébastien Lecornu has resigned after less than four weeks in the job. This is the curt communiqué just issued by the presidency
06.10.2025 07:54 — 👍 30 🔁 8 💬 3 📌 4
The two most interesting appointments in a pretty unchanged new 🇫🇷 government (just unveiled) are @rolandlescure.bsky.social as new finance min and the return of Bruno Le Maire to govt, at defence. Otherwise most big jobs, including @jnbarrot.bsky.social at foreign, stay as they were under Bayrou…
05.10.2025 18:18 — 👍 15 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0
Emmanuel Macron remains a vigorous figure in foreign affairs and one of Europe’s longest-serving leaders. Yet no amount of energetic diplomacy abroad can mask what is happening at home: the unravelling of his great centrist venture
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
French luxury firms supply the world with branded handbags and fine champagne, but the country seems to have a real problem with those rich enough to splash out on such things
Why taxing the super rich may be the price of political stability
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
Say what you like about Macron but he can still give an impassioned speech, this one in defence of multilateralism
“The United Nations is all of us
We have no right to cynicism
We have no right to fatigue
We have no right to the spirit of defeat”
youtu.be/FsMnFJtBBP0?...
How France’s hard-right National Rally is secretly courting the Paris elite—and how French bosses are quietly getting to know its leaders, one in particular
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
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On today's show:
- @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social on nat'l politics
- NYS State Sen. James Skoufis on live events ticketing reforms
- @sophiepedder.bsky.social on France news
- How restaurant culture is changing w/tariffs, GLP-1s, etc.
Tune in at 10AM, 93.9FM, AM820 & wnyc.org
France’s politics are messy and its luxury firms are struggling. But less visile to the public eye 🇫🇷 utilities, energy, materials, telecoms and other stodgy firms are doing surprisingly well
In French business, boring beats sexy
economist.com/business/202...
from @economist.com
Why France’s new prime
minister, Sébastien Lecornu, may have no choice but to compromise with the left if the country is to return to some form of political stability
economist.com/europe/2025/...
from @economist.com
‼️🇫🇷 Emmanuel Macron has picked his next PM, the fifth since 2022: Sébastien Lecornu, the 39-year-old current defence minister (and ex-Republican) and Macron loyalist
09.09.2025 18:01 — 👍 27 🔁 9 💬 1 📌 2New: Crushing defeat for Bayrou’s government. He has lost his vote of confidence in the National Assembly by 194 votes to 364 against. France has now lost four prime ministers in under two years, a sorry reflection of the polarised state of French politics
08.09.2025 17:08 — 👍 40 🔁 8 💬 4 📌 0
After more than a century, Parisians can once again swim in the Seine, under the timeless gaze of the Eiffel Tower. Where once there was a highway along the riverbank, there is now life, joy, and water. A celebration of proximity, quality of life, and the Parisian joie de vivre 💫🌊🏊🏼♂️🏊🏼♀️
07.09.2025 12:47 — 👍 27 🔁 7 💬 1 📌 2
Bond vigilantes take aim at France
economist.com/finance-and-...
