Deficits are ridiculous and they have aging populations who no longer contribute but both winners in both countries simply promised more spending.
It is going to be interesting in the real short term. Those countries aren't exactly re-inventing themselves commercially and like the rats here, they have done a fine job creating envy of people who accomplish things and dependency on the government.
https://www.wsj.com/economy/global/crushing-debts-await-europes-new-leaders-c2b31138
New governments in Europe are being handed a poisoned chalice. They are being elected with mandates for change, but only limited means at their disposal to enact it.
Public debt is close to multidecade highs on both sides of the English Channel, where voters this week were electing new parliaments. In both France and the U.K., government spending and budget deficits as a share of gross domestic product are significantly above prepandemic levels. Economic growth remains lackluster, borrowing costs have surged, and demands on the public purse are rising, from defense to old-age pensions.
All that means fiscal restraint—less spending or higher taxes—will be necessary, economists say. But politicians haven’t prepared electorates for that. On the contrary, they have signaled bold new spending plans.
