{"id":30556,"date":"2025-11-01T18:35:03","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T17:35:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/?p=30556"},"modified":"2025-11-01T18:58:32","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T17:58:32","slug":"french-debt-a-matter-of-sovereignty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/french-public-debt\/french-debt-a-matter-of-sovereignty","title":{"rendered":"French Debt: A Matter of Sovereignty"},"content":{"rendered":"
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French public debt is no longer merely a simple accounting variable. It has become the fragile heart of our economic sovereignty. Trapped in a model inherited from the 19th century, France will need to refinance itself next year to the tune of just over \u20ac300 billion\u2014a complex and risky exercise.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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A Fragmented and Vulnerable System<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
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French debt consists of hundreds of issuance lines, with varying maturities and often illiquid securities. This fragmentation creates a seemingly sophisticated structure, yet one that is vulnerable to interest rate volatility and financial market fluctuations. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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Designed in an era when the economy relied on paper and teller windows, this system struggles to adapt to the contemporary world. Since the 2008 crisis, sovereign bonds have played a central role in financial stability, serving as collateral for banks. However, French debt remains less liquid than that of other major economic powers, such as Germany or the United States, which represents a major handicap.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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Debt: A Strategic Public Good<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
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It is essential to understand that public debt is more than just a financing mechanism<\/em>. It is a fundamental public good, comparable to currency or infrastructure, that only a sovereign state can produce on a large scale to stabilize its economy.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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Toward Perpetual Debt: An Innovative Solution<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
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One bold avenue consists of converting French debt into perpetual annuities\u2014that is, securities without maturity dates\u2014offering two complementary forms:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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  • A floating-rate annuity<\/strong>, functioning like a sovereign electronic currency, with a stable nominal value, remunerated at the money market rate (Euribor). These securities would be electronically exchangeable, usable for tax payments or as bank collateral.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

     <\/p>\n

      \n
    • A fixed-coupon annuity<\/strong>, paying an eternal yield without repayment of the principal, thereby creating a stable and sustainable source of financing for the state.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

       <\/p>\n

      These perpetual bonds (called perpetual OATs) could have an initial coupon of 2.5 to 3% and would be redeemable by the Public Treasury as needed. This unification of debt would simplify and make the market more flexible, increasing liquidity and reducing liquidity premiums by 20 to 50 basis points, resulting in annual savings of \u20ac6 to \u20ac15 billion.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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      An Historical Legacy to Revisit<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
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      This idea is not new. As early as the 13th century, the Republic of Venice financed its expeditions with perpetual monti<\/em>. In France, Colbert had established annuities on the H\u00f4tel de Ville, which allowed Louis XIV to raise funds without defaulting. In the 19th century, the United Kingdom maintained a debt equivalent to 250% of GDP thanks to its perpetual consols<\/em>, which became the foundation of the global financial system. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
      <\/div>\n
      These historical examples demonstrate that perpetual debt can be synonymous with stability, rather than a headlong rush forward.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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      Major Economic and Financial Benefits<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
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      \n

      The implementation of a unified and perpetual debt would allow for:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

        \n
      • Reducing the cost of public financing, with a decrease in liquidity premiums and interest rates.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
      • Eliminating the annual refinancing risk, a source of stress and vulnerability.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
      • Facilitating debt management during periods of economic tension, by allowing coupon payments in the form of new perpetuities.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
      • Protecting investors, particularly insurers and retirees, through inflation-indexed perpetuities.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
      • Strengthening the European single currency by providing the ECB with liquid and standardized sovereign collateral.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
        <\/div>\n
        <\/div>\n
        A Credible Scenario for 2030<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
        <\/div>\n
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        By 2030, France could borrow \u20ac350 billion per year to finance sustainable infrastructure at stable rates, while benefiting from an additional 0.5 percentage point of GDP growth. The Agence France Tr\u00e9sor (AFT) could invite OAT holders to voluntarily exchange their securities for these new perpetuities, with a symbolic premium. The operation would not be a “disguised default” because the nominal capital would remain intact, coupons would be maintained, and the value of the securities could even appreciate due to improved liquidity. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
        <\/div>\n
        Unlike the 2012 Greek crisis, this reform would preserve France’s sovereign rating (currently A+) and avoid costly economic contagion.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
        <\/div>\n
        <\/div>\n
        Beyond the Technical Aspects<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
        <\/div>\n
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        Beyond the technical aspects, this reform embodies a renewed pact of sovereignty. In a world marked by revolving debts and growing monetary uncertainty, perpetuity offers a new symbol of lasting trust. It transforms debt into a budgetary architecture for the digital age, where stability arises from continuity, not from repayment<\/strong>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
        <\/div>\n
        <\/div>\n
        <\/div>\n
        \"\"<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        French public debt is no longer merely a simple accounting variable. It has become the fragile heart of our economic sovereignty. Trapped in a model inherited from the 19th century, France will need to refinance itself next year to the tune of just over \u20ac300 billion\u2014a complex and risky exercise. A Fragmented and Vulnerable System…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":30552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_crdt_document":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[648943050,648943051],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-french-public-debt","category-perpetual-debt"],"yoast_head":"\nFrench Debt: A Matter of Sovereignty - Michel Santi<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/french-public-debt\/french-debt-a-matter-of-sovereignty\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"French Debt: A Matter of Sovereignty - Michel Santi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"French public debt is no longer merely a simple accounting variable. 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More perilous even than debt itself. It reflects a profound misunderstanding of the nature and scale of public debt. Is France sinking inexorably into a \u201cdebt swamp\u201d? Will its \u20ac3.3 trillion in gross public debt drive it to the edge of the abyss? Is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "capitalism"","block_context":{"text":"capitalism","link":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/category\/capitalism"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Apocapypse-now.jpg?fit=1200%2C672&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Apocapypse-now.jpg?fit=1200%2C672&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Apocapypse-now.jpg?fit=1200%2C672&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Apocapypse-now.jpg?fit=1200%2C672&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Apocapypse-now.jpg?fit=1200%2C672&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":24466,"url":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/financial-crisis\/is-there-a-way-towards-economic-serenity","url_meta":{"origin":30556,"position":1},"title":"Is there a way towards economic serenity?","author":"Michel Santi","date":"March 29, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"All the economic parishes agree on the fact that too high debts are harmful. However, they diverge when the profile of the debtor is considered because, while the Austrian school is primarily concerned with public debts, the neo-Keynesians attach much more importance to private sector debts. The classics are indeed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "financial crisis"","block_context":{"text":"financial crisis","link":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/category\/financial-crisis"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/serenite.png?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/serenite.png?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/serenite.png?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/serenite.png?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/serenite.png?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":26026,"url":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/neoliberalism\/no-need-for-electric-shocks-to-reduce-public-debt","url_meta":{"origin":30556,"position":2},"title":"No need for electric shocks to reduce public debt","author":"Michel Santi","date":"April 23, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"See for yourself the impressive improvement in the Debt\/GDP ratio of Greece and Portugal! Yes, inflation works very well to lighten the burden of public debts, provided we fix the duration of our loans and do not issue inflation-indexed debt. The deprivations inflicted on our populations are much more a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "debts reduction"","block_context":{"text":"debts reduction","link":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/category\/debts-reduction"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/dette.jpg?fit=1200%2C741&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/dette.jpg?fit=1200%2C741&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/dette.jpg?fit=1200%2C741&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/dette.jpg?fit=1200%2C741&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/dette.jpg?fit=1200%2C741&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":31199,"url":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/european-sovereignty\/mercosur","url_meta":{"origin":30556,"position":3},"title":"Mercosur: When Europe Takes France at Its Word","author":"Michel Santi","date":"March 1, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The provisional application of the trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, triggered on 27 February 2026 despite French opposition, is not an institutional coup. It is the logical culmination of a framework that Paris itself helped to construct. The moment calls for a strategic clarification that France has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "European sovereignty"","block_context":{"text":"European sovereignty","link":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/category\/european-sovereignty"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mercosur.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mercosur.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mercosur.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mercosur.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mercosur.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20835,"url":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/debt\/taking-on-debt-yes-but-what-for","url_meta":{"origin":30556,"position":4},"title":"Taking on debt, yes, but what for?","author":"Michel Santi","date":"October 11, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Following on from Keynes, it\u2019s been years that I\u2019ve been talking about it and outlining the mechanisms. At present, reality is catching up with the \u201cmainstream\u201d economists who with regret have recognised the absolute necessity for governments to deepen their debts in the current recession brought about by the health\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "debt"","block_context":{"text":"debt","link":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/category\/debt"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Roosevelt-e-Keynes-1.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Roosevelt-e-Keynes-1.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Roosevelt-e-Keynes-1.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":30280,"url":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/the-fiscal-monetary-nexus\/fiscal-and-monetary-an-inseparable-pair","url_meta":{"origin":30556,"position":5},"title":"Fiscal and Monetary: An Inseparable Pair","author":"Michel Santi","date":"September 21, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Public debt: an \u201cexistential threat.\u201d That is how it is described by the guardians of budgetary orthodoxy, whose alarmism owes more to populism than to a rigorous understanding of the mechanisms at play. Their discourse aims to instill fear for ideological purposes. It serves a hidden agenda. Unless, perhaps, they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Not the Budget"","block_context":{"text":"Not the Budget","link":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/category\/not-the-budget"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/fiscal-monetary.png?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/fiscal-monetary.png?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/fiscal-monetary.png?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/fiscal-monetary.png?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30556"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30556\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30567,"href":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30556\/revisions\/30567"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michelsanti.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}