The debate on debt is normal and healthy, except when it takes on late-stage self-destructive overtones.
The accumulation of debt is not evidence of moral failing, but merely of poor management, which can therefore be easily rectified.
People scoff at Italian or French public debt whilst turning a blind eye to that of the US, which exceeds $40,000 billion and is growing by $100 billion a month – soon to be the primary expenditure item in a federal budget running a 6 per cent deficit!
As for China, opaque and mysterious as it is, its total debt is said to exceed 300 per cent of its gross domestic product.
There is therefore a genuine reason to question the overall indebtedness of the world’s economies, combined with stock market excesses surrounding investments in artificial intelligence. Public and private debt is rising, whilst stock markets are soaring!
The European Union has set itself strict rules to prevent certain members of the eurozone from exploiting the bloc’s collective strength with impunity. But these rules hinder and stifle it.
For nothing can replace a genuine growth policy.
The difference between Europe and the United States lies precisely in the stronger growth across the Atlantic, which boosts citizens’ incomes and fuels genuine dynamism. Easy access to finance that is not afraid of risk, that favours the stock market over the banking system, a taste for adventure or the acceptance of potential failure – these are what make the difference, even though we have the same technologies here, and in some cases even more advanced ones.
The only way to repay debts, ensure social cohesion and preserve a protective and solidarity-based model of society is to ensure stronger growth.
This requires a re-examination of the Malthusian rules, a more active monetary policy, and, in all likelihood, deregulation that avoids destabilizing market forces.
It is not straightforward, and Europeans are clearly feeling their way as they seek the best policies.
But this should in no way justify the prevailing pessimism that pervades the entire continent and fuels doubt, both internally and externally.
