Hollande, whose approval ratings stand at just 17%, needs results, and fast. But the chances of him achieving them look slim. It is not just that the latest business surveys make grim reading – though the economy does appears to be going backwards in the third quarter. It is not just that the amount of slack Merkel will cut him is likely to be limited. And it is not just that the European Central Bank has been painfully slow in waking up to the threat of deflation.
Rather it is that for all its many problems, France remains a prosperous and – for those in work – comfortable country. There is just no appetite for any of the more radical proposals, be they structural reforms, abandoning austerity or leaving the euro.
David Marsh of monetary thinktank Omfif says: "The political and economic position in France is parlous. Hollande will now be under attack from two sides: from the right wing, both his traditional conservative rivals and the revitalised Front National, and from his own socialist party, where Montebourg and his allies, unencumbered by government office, will be quick to regroup."
The risk for Hollande is clear. He is neither Margaret Thatcher in 1979 nor Blair in 1994. He has levers but seems unwilling to pull them. Clause IV moment? No chance. Lame duck moment? Much more likely.
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