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Macron wants €400B to ‘transform’ France’s forces through 2030

• hunglee2 4y ago
  France has done an exceptional job of retaining a viable domestic war industry - can and does produce its own planes, ships, tanks, missiles, bullets, and of course nuclear and space hardware. Consequently, along with Turkey, perhaps the only European country that can still operate with some semblance strategic independence. Tough to see how he can get this bill through though, going to take de Gaulle level credibility to pull it off
  • JPLeRouzic 4y ago
    Macron has a very long history of making huge oral promises and revoking them weeks later. Most of the time, the Prime Minister and its government are only informed via Twitter or the press. and they have to work hard to limit the damage. Moreover, having a huge war industry is only possible if there are many other SMEs and large companies. No industry can be isolated and self-sufficient. Most parts of our industry have been shut down since the 1980s (remember Alcatel's Tchuruk?), but it started much earlier (EU). Today, the public sector holds 60% of GDP. How many years before it's 70%, 5 or 10 years? France's foreign trade balance has been very negative for several decades and it gets worse every year. And there is also the question of budget and money: since 2017, Macron has deeply indebted France, following the path of Hollande and Sarkozy. In recent years, the French state is missing each year hundreds of billions in revenue and has to borrow them. Who will finance France in the coming years?
    • hunglee2 4y ago
      yes, France is trying to do something which its size might not allow. Still, I think the French MO since de Gaulle has been to keep the Anglo's at arms length and this strand persists to this day. How long it lasts is anyone's guess, as you suggest, the time might be coming up