Budget 2026: “The real question is not ‘how much debt?’ but ‘for what purpose?’”

François Bayrou is seeking savings of more than 40 billion euros. The Court of Auditors, the International Monetary Fund, Brussels: all are unanimously calling for "efforts." But what efforts are we talking about? Repairing a mistake? Atoning for a collective fault?

Behind this injunction, the same moral narrative of public debt still emerges. That of a France that, for forty years, has "lived beyond its means," compromising the future of its children. In this fable, debt is not primarily an economic constraint, but the symptom of a collective sin. And austerity—these "efforts"—become the penance imposed to pay it off.

This story is rooted in a deeply held religious and moral imagery—in German, Schuld means both “debt” and “guilt.” In the Christian tradition, debt and sin are intimately linked, almost conflated. In Aramaic, the language of Jesus, as in Greek, the same word designates both. The ultimate debt is original sin in Genesis. This analogy continues to permeate our perception of debt: never simply an accounting fact, but always a transgression to be atoned for. The Prime Minister calls it a “curse with no way out.”

This symbolic weight explains the persistent distrust of public debt, even though most economists point out that it is neither inherently dangerous nor immoral. What matters is not the level of debt, but its use. Yet, in our imagination, taxes remain legitimate, debt a fault.

In this moral fable, austerity and work become the instruments of penance. On the austerity side, experience has been established: since 2008, we have known that budget cuts worsen recessions and increase debt as a percentage of gross domestic product. Cutting spending by €40 billion today could further increase debt tomorrow. Austerity is therefore not an economic solution, but a political and symbolic gesture. It sends a message to international donors, to reassure them, another to the population, to signal that the state is making amends, and finally, for leaders, it is an opportunity to forge their reputation for seriousness.

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