So Maroon is French President. Breathe a sigh of relief.
Now realise that this man is about as reformist as Tony Blair.
Then realise that he is as a result marooned in a neoliberal morass from which it is unlikely he has the initiative or inclination to escape and realise that he is no solution to anything bar the immediate crisis of holding off the French far right, yet again.
Right now anyone who is educated in the view that markets answer all questions, supply side reforms supply all solutions and that a pre-condition of success is that government books are balanced, come what may, has not learned the lessons of thirty seven years of neoliberalism, or appreciated the need for co-ordinated government driven action to make economies work for people again; let alone understood that supply side reform is a euphemism for losing the battle against climate change. They also don't understand money, government debt, and its essential role in the economy.
But most of all they have not realised that the requirement in a modern economy under threat from populism is to meet the needs of people. Bizarrely these are all too easy to state. People want jobs that are well paid. They want housing that's secure and sufficient for needs. They want security with a sense of identity. And they want to know their children have prospects, ill health will not ruin them and old age is not something to dread.
How to achieve that? The populists suggest that is possible by eliminating a threat. That's why migrants are so potent for them.
The alternative is empowerment. It's not paternalism: we've had enough of that. Distaste for globalisation is a proxy for that distaste, and an entirely appropriate one because globalisation has been about disempowerment. Localism is part of the corollary as a result.
But this empowerment is at the heart of why I think (as I suggested yesterday) letting people use their savings and their pensions to direct the local economy is key. And it is why I think that high quality data that can show people that the place where they live is working for them is vital - which is why I made the case for this in Scotland. It is also why PFI has to go - because that was so obviously about passing the power to use tax revenues for public good towards private profit instead.
But there's more to it than that. The aim has to be jobs in every constituency that deliver two things. One is fair pay. The other is meaning. And in this context meaning is doing something that adds value, which is why I remain committed to the idea of the Green New Deal. This is not just about investment for energy and ticking a carbon box: it is about building futures in better homes, based on low energy and local generation and bringing a sense of the economy back to the local domain.
I can't see Macron being anywhere near any of this. That is why he will fail.
That is why the Tories will fail here.
We're not looking for either of their solutions now. Populism can't work unless it destroys all we value, which the Tories might try and which Macron can only hold at bay. And old fashioned Labour values, based on division and class rights tinged with internationalism, are as remote. What we need is soemthing very different. It's an economy built for and by people in the places where they are.
I think that's possible based on liberating savings to direct investment into work creating opportunity that transforms productivity, real living conditions and long term prospects.
I think it's possible if we begin to understand how the local fits into the national, for which i can't even see any adequate theory as yet.
And it's possible if we realise that putting people, their wealth and their inclinations to work is the pre-condition of success.
I can be accused of dreaming. But when I look at the mess we're in I think dreaming of real ways out is the most important thing on the agenda.
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Hi Richard – that may be so, but thankfully Mr Macron has neither a mind clouded by hate and resentment, nor a hero-sum worldview, both of which are key attributes of Ms Le Pen and would’ve informed her Presidency and policies (those that would’ve made it through a minority Assemblée nationale, at any rate). In his victory speech, he seemed quite to acknowledge clearly that there are profound divisions in the country and that he intends to govern for all, especially the most vulnerable and those who feel left behind. That’s not only a vastly better starting point than the alternative, but also a clearly better position than that of other G7 countries. Now he’ll have to prove that this isn’t just empty rhetoric.
Don’t get me wrong: I am pleased he won this fight
Your last sentence is key
‘he intends to govern for all, especially the most vulnerable and those who feel left behind’
We heard this garbage from May when she talked of ‘we will help you’ and ‘project bonds for infrastructure.’
They ALL come out with this stuff which i can only describe as ‘mouth-farting.’ It ain’t gonna happen; it will not materialise any more than it will here. A brief feel-good factor and a few waves of the EU flag and a round of Ode to Joy.
“Everyone told us that it would be impossible but they did not know France.
“You have chosen audacity and this is what French people and the world are waiting from us. They want France to surprise them and they want France to be itself and this is exactly what we are going to do.”
In a “spirit of conquest”, Mr Macron said he would “fight against inequalities, ensure security and the unity of the nation” and that he would defend France and Europe and “the common fate that countries of our continent have given themselves”.
“Through work, education and culture, I will give hope to our country,” he said.
Addressing the crowd, Mr Macron said: “You are representing the enthusiasm and energy of the French people. This place, where we are standing is saying that. This place is the link with all the French people and with the rest of the world.
“We have the force, the energy and the determination and we will not give in to fear.”
Well, if this isn’t empty rhetoric, then I don’t know what is!
These challenges are fearsomely difficult. I appreciate this forum.
Thanks
I never knew I was c4eating a forum
But some of the best things in life happen unplanned
Things are perhaps not so bad for Macron. He has promised to work on education, as he is a great fan of the republican, secular schooling system, and this should empower to some extent, at least over time. The other strength, which the neoliberals have always sneered at (whilst consuming a café au lait and a crossant…), because they view it as a weakness, is the diversity of local supply of food & beverages. This is propped up by law, so there are minimum prices for a baguette, etc. It also creates many skilled jobs and a sense of community, since people actually talk to each other when shopping.
So perhaps local means small. Expand this into other products (see the microbrewery revolution), with a price floor and a size tax and perhaps you start to move in the right direction.
Whether you need theory is another matter. Since you cannot test hypotheses, nor make independent measurements, I have never understood why the term is used in economics. A ‘guess’ would be more honest, particularly as this is the appropriate description of a scientist’s ‘working hypothesis’. The following is both entertaining and enlightening:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b240PGCMwV0
Why are some papers describing macron’s ‘victory’ as a ‘landslide’ He only received 40% of the total electorate of whom 4 million spoilt their ballot papers in protest and 12 million didn’t even bother and of those that voted for macron many did tactically with a ‘peg on their nose.’ This is no victory and why macron is grinning and waving I don’t fully understand.
One thing is clear: expect a lot of civil unrest in France, it won’t be pretty.
The graffiti on a French poster summed it up: ‘Ni Banqueur Ni Facho.’
Typo alert, Richard: ‘So Maroon is French President’ -amusing one, though!
I may leave it for that reason!
“People want jobs that are well paid. They want housing that’s secure and sufficient for needs. They want security with a sense of identity. And they want to know their children have prospects, ill health will not ruin them and old age is not something to dread.”
Richard, you have just written what should be Labour’s manifesto – simple, easy to understand and most definitely what the majority want. With respect to Macron – he could implement a national energy rennovation prog’ for buildings – he won’t because he lacks the imagination and/or the inclination.
Unless
?
Unless Macron can bring down unemployment dramatically, Le Pen will be forever breathing down his neck. As Richard has pointed out a massive investment programme can only do that. So far the only economic indicators from Macron is labour market “reforms” and cutting public services, both policies leading to an increase in unemployment and riots in the banlieus and further anger in the de-industrialised regions.
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose …..
Great post with a truly internationalist flavour. I still long to see our politicians talk like this.
My remaining worry for Macron now is how the ECB will cut France and the others some slack to enable such bottom financial regeneration take place.
Macron has done the EU a favour. Now he deserves payback.