Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination – how France takes fiscal policy inspiration from Oscar Wilde

What will the man do?

Not at all surprising: Europeans lose confidence in the EU, they are worried about the economic situation and the ability of their rulers to change their situation. How else could it be, the European Union has been pushing the blues of the crisis for years. But at the same time, the people from North to South are more clairvoyant than their political leadership.

To a sweeping majority of Italians, Spaniards and French (and Germans anyway) the following makes sense: a crisis caused by excessive debts can not be combatted with new and more debts. This bodes well for governments – it could be a great encouragement.

Referring to a lack of acceptance of thrift among citizens, voters, might hold true for Greece, where these extreme cuts to spending have been happening for years. In France, however, where the government feels a strong compulsion to convert the debt consolidators, there can be no question of this. France does not like such conventional wisdoms.The socialist government celebrates the turning away from austerity, from saving excessively, even before ever practicing it. Nevertheless, the EU will give them more time for the reduction of their debts – if they finally tackle reforms which they procrastinated up until now. France becomes incrusted.

Yet, structural reforms are often mixed with pure consolidation of the budget and thus, in French eyes, discredited. Whether the indulgence from Brussels directs France’s François Hollande back to the right channels? We will see. The French are waiting for his announced speech on the reforms.

Right now, they can only pray and hope that their government at least attempts to make the labour market more flexible to allow for new jobs, their pensions and those of their children. That the people’s economic reasoning impregnates the political class is far from certain.