Is France heading for a Greek-style crisis?

For the first time ever, France’s borrowing costs have risen above those of Greece. As of today, the bond markets have decided that French debt is a riskier bet than Greece, the country that 15 years ago almost crashed the entire euro-zone with its fiscal extravagance and irresponsibility. True, to some degree that reflects an improvement in Greece’s position, as well as the decline of France’s. Yet the harsh reality is this: France is in a sorry state and president Emmanuel Macron will struggle to patch things up.

This moment of crisis was bound to happen eventually. Ever since Macron plunged France’s political system into chaos in the spring with snap elections that went badly wrong for his governing party, the bond markets have been demanding higher and higher prices to hold French debt. As Liz Truss discovered during her brief premiership, the bond markets don’t like uncertainty.