How France Broke Itself

#finance
#financement

After World War II, France built one of the world’s most generous welfare states, designed for a young, fast-growing workforce. For decades, strong growth and favorable demographics sustained this model, even as public spending expanded and structural reforms were repeatedly delayed. Today, France faces a different reality: an aging population, rising debt, and an economic structure many agree is no longer sustainable. Yet each attempt at reform—from pensions to labor laws—has triggered mass protests, forcing governments to retreat or dilute change. The result is a growing paradox: a system widely seen as needing reform, defended most fiercely by those who depend on it—raising a deeper question about who bears the cost of change.