Economist David Spector published a new book detailing a sweeping restructuring plan for France’s deteriorating public finances and struggling social systems, lexpress.fr reported.
Set for publication on November 12, Le Choc libéral-égalitaire through publisher Odile Jacob outlines an array of major fiscal policy overhauls. The author warns that France faces an uncontrolled debt crisis driven by high taxes on labor and excessive public spending.
Spector points to widespread public sector decline across key institutions like education and healthcare to illustrate the depth of the fiscal trouble. The economist highlights that public funds are overwhelmingly funneled into social transfers like pensions and health rather than supporting core operational infrastructure. He argues that hundreds of clientelist measures, ranging from housing subsidies to thermal cure reimbursements, lock the political system into paralysis.
“We find ourselves stuck in a situation where we cannot question any spending,” Spector said, according to lexpress.fr. The book contends that maintaining specialized tax niches forces the government to keep overall tax rates exceptionally high, which discourages entrepreneurship and productive economic activity.
To replace unproductive taxes, the author proposes a tax on private non-agricultural land across the country. This levy would target a base valued at over 6,000 billion euros out of France’s total private wealth. In exchange, the plan eliminates standard property taxes, transaction transfer duties, business property contributions, and real estate wealth taxes.
Stabilizing national debt requires massive structural changes, including raising the retirement age to 67, according to the proposals in the text. Spector notes that standard austerity measures like postponing retirement by two years yield only a fraction of the necessary funds. To offset these stringent requirements, the plan advocates for a 10% increase in net wages by reducing the high tax wedge on labor.
“We must strongly revalue work, because it is the only way to make a public accounts recovery program acceptable,” Spector said, as reported by lexpress.fr. The economic strategy draws inspiration from the 1958 Pinay-Rueff reform by advocating simultaneous, comprehensive action across multiple fronts rather than isolated legislative battles.
David Lisnard and Sarah Knafo similarly point to public spending waste, condemning cures. No voter will thank a member of parliament for cutting thermal cure subsidies to gain 25 cents on a payslip, while establishments and cure participants have every interest in mobilizing.
Instead, an effort focusing not on 200 million but on 200 billion euros allows everyone to be granted a visible advantage. Meanwhile, demanding retirement at 62 or 60 means shooting oneself in the foot.
