France’s neoliberal government is expected to lose a confidence vote on Monday. For its opponents, the aim isn’t just to topple the current cabinet but to kill off President Emmanuel Macron’s whole austerity agenda.

“When we return from the summer break, there’ll be a clash between reality and ideology.” Thus insisted French prime minister François Bayrou at yet another press conference to defend his austerity budget, which promises an extra €44 billion in spending cuts. Bayrou here echoed the usual neoliberal refrain: public debt is an absolute evil, and the only solution is to dismantle the state — whatever objections “ideologues” may have.

Yet, Bayrou’s contemptuous remark could well backfire on President Emmanuel Macron’s administration. For it is austerity ideology, combined with th

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