France’s Political Paralysis Puts It in Bondholders’ Crosshairs

From his office in a palace in the center of Paris, Pierre Moscovici has a unique view of France’s problem with debt. A former finance minister and European commissioner, he now heads the French Court of Accounts, the supreme auditor of how public money is used. Over 30 years at the heart of Europe’s economic establishment, he has come to the conclusion that France just can’t stop spending. “It’s a national characteristic,” he said. “It’s part of our social contract.”

Successive governments have spent their way through crises, then found themselves hamstrung by electoral politics and unable to cut back. ...