Broken system? French protesters rage against austerity

How can the nation of haute couture and high speed rail have an affordability issue? On paper, France boasts the planet’s seventh largest economy. Its top diplomat started the week hosting a Group of Seven Industrialized Nations foreign ministers meeting inside the regal setting of its landmark Left Bank ministry.

But a few short blocks away, the PM was engaging in a more arduous exercise… negotiating pay rises with unions in a bid to quell social revolt while still keeping a record budget deficit from ballooning any further. Six months from presidential elections where anti-establishment far-right and far-left candidates promise to take a torch to existing norms.

We’ll ask about the disconnect between this lame duck government…and all those in the streets who feel unheard. They say conventional metrics no longer add up in a nation where wages and job prospects for young people are slipping. As with last week’s US Midterm elections, as with budding protest movements elsehwere in Europe, how to bridge the credibility gap between the policies and messaging of decision makers and the real life struggle of citizens trying to make ends meet?

Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.

Our guests

• Philippe MOREAU-CHEVROLET Communications specialist; Host of "Rearming Democracy" podcast

• Francesco SARACENO Deputy Director, OFCE & Professor of Macroeconomics, Sciences Po Paris

• Claire PACCALIN FRANCE 24 reporter

• Alice COHEN-MORZADEC International spokesperson, L’Union Étudiante