Its debts are out of control. There is very little space left to raise taxes any further. And the political establishment can’t agree on anything apart from postponing the whole issue for another year or two. It is a description that could apply to plenty of countries, and not least the UK. But right now, it is one that applies most acutely to France. With yet another government about to fall, and the CAC-40 stock market index falling sharply, the real question is this: will Paris be the centre of the next financial crash?

The French prime minister François Bayrou yesterday took the plucky, if foolish, decision to recall parliament on 8 September for a vote of confidence. He is struggling to pass a Budget that would put in place some modest controls on public spending – not cuts, of cours

See Full Page