What's new: what will the “next world” be like?

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By: Frédéric Couteau Follow

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What will the “world after” be, to use Emmanuel Macron's formula, or at least France after? The head of state decided to speak to the French on Sunday evening at 8 p.m. What will he say? What will he announce? Yesterday, the president exchanged with journalists. Here is what stands out.

First, point Liberation , " Sunday's meeting will be an opportunity for him to break his silence noted on the global anti-racist mobilization of the past weeks. With regard to France, Emmanuel Macron believes that beyond the question of police violence, we must look directly at what comes under the shadow of decolonization. A job he considers to have started in 2017, when he spoke, in Algiers and then in Ouagadougou, of the 'crimes' of colonization. Particularly mobilized since the death of George Floyd, the French youth was also the main victim of confinement. Significant sacrifices were asked of him to save the elderly. And Macron suggests that he will not forget this Sunday when he presents the menu for this 'new stage'. Unsurprisingly , specifiesLiberation, it is based on the priorities highlighted in recent weeks: economic sovereignty, social protection, institutional reform and ecological transition. If he promises strong announcements and voluntarism, Macron indicates that he has no intention of breaking with the thread of the quinquennium. No break with what has been undertaken in the past three years. A reinvention in continuity, in a way ... This is how, contrary to what many thought they understood, that there is no question of drawing a line under pension reform.  "

Give back the initiative to the field?

"  Macron launches Act III,  " exclaims Le Parisien. “  Sunday, it will be for Macron to launch the new stage of the quinquennium. And it is a radical change of method that he has in mind, believes the newspaper. "He thinks a lot about the situation of the country as it has revealed itself through confinement and deconfinement," observes a faithful. Conclusion? After a vertical five-year start, Macron intends to give back the initiative to the field , still believes Le Parisien. Far from the bureaucracy, it is in his eyes local initiatives that have met the needs of the French. With solutions from companies, departments, cities, regions ... Hence a reflection on the questions of decentralization and deconcentration, with the idea of ​​restoring power to local elected representatives on the one hand and, on the other other, negotiation between social partners. It is the famous 'New Social Deal' which he calls for.  "

134 billion ...

While waiting to know what will be done tomorrow, the addition is salty ... This is what Les Echos notes : "  three days before the introduction of confinement in France, Bruno Le Maire had mentioned support for the activity economic which would amount to 'tens of billions of euros'. Three months later, the bill is estimated at 134 billion euros for the state. This is the figure that appears in the third amending budget since the start of the health crisis, presented yesterday in the Council of Ministers. "It is unique in budgetary history," commented the president of the High Council of Public Finance, Pierre Moscovici, facing what he describes as "the most serious crisis since the second world war".  "

The debt trap?

Le Figaro, for its part, denounces the “  waltz of the billions  ”; for the right-wing daily, massive debt has never been a solution. Rather, believes Le Figaro , “  think of rebuilding our own forces as quickly as possible. By stimulating growth, as the government is doing. But above all, once activity has returned, finally managing government spending on the back burner. Our past short-sightedness - half a century of consecutive deficits - has brought us into the crisis weakened, with no room for maneuver. Public money, more abundant here than anywhere else, has not protected us better. We are coming out of this ragged event. "

And Le Figaro to wonder: "  Can we overcome the next?  "

Make the rich pay?

In the immediate future, where can we find money to bail out our economy? For some, it's simple: in the pockets of the richest ... "  The debate on the taxation of the richest is back,  " notes Le Monde. A debate that is raging: “  on the one hand, the partisans of an accelerated economic catch-up, ready to brandish the need to work more or to lower wages. On the other, those who intend to make the wealthiest contribute to the bill for the crisis, at the end of a pandemic which has made the 'first of the chores' into heroes.  "

According to polls, taxing the wealthy would be favored by public opinion, but, Le Monde emphasizes , "  between taxes 'Robin Hood' or 'Jean Valjean', the metaphors in favor of redistribution are coming to an end government ban. The latter sticks to its course of action not to raise taxes, so as not to reproduce the mistakes made after the 2009 financial crisis. (…) To pay the bill for the crisis, the government prefers to send towards the ongoing discussions on a global tax on digital giants, a minimum level of corporate taxes at the international level and a carbon tax at the borders of the European Union . "

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