Nero’s Parallels: Macron’s Disregard for Consequences
Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Macron, with his incompetent arrogance, is leading France into political chaos, financial ruin, and institutional instability.
As Paris burns, Macron travels to Egypt, where no one listens. Trump ridicules him. The only question seems to be: will he dance?
Trump once said of Macron, “What he says doesn’t matter.”
The Shortest Government in French History
France has just experienced the shortest government in its history: 14 hours. The prime minister, who resigned after the failure of his government, was reappointed by Macron to form a new cabinet that may not last much longer than the previous one. This is the fifth government and fifth prime minister in less than a year, a catastrophic situation in French politics.
This occurs after the dissolution of the National Assembly in 2024 by the president, an unnecessary move considered a mistake by all. This led to elections where no party secured an absolute majority.
Macron dissolved the Assembly following his party’s defeat in the European elections, punished for mishandling finances, failing migration policies, rising crime and violence, and disconnecting from the daily reality of French people.
Nero, like Macron, is disconnected from the reality of a country whose reputation and influence have diminished as debt has grown, placing its future in the hands of financial markets, just as Greece and Portugal did a few years ago. Today, French debt is more expensive than those countries, as happened in England recently: if markets stop buying French paper, things will fall apart.
To keep things afloat at any cost, Nero now sacrificed his only substantial reform: pension reform. A controversial yet necessary reform, it may be Macron’s only real accomplishment, but it came at a high cost of social rejection. His legacy is reduced to ashes to appease socialists and avoid confronting society.
Quick Institutional Explanation
The dissolution of the National Assembly is permitted by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic, founded by De Gaulle in 1958 to avoid the party regime that led to disaster in 1940.
The Fifth Republic grants significant powers to the president, including the ability to call legislative elections every 12 months if desired.
In France, the president presides and the prime minister governs. The president is elected directly in two rounds, as are deputies, both for a five-year term. The prime minister is appointed by the president but must belong to the party with a majority in the National Assembly. Typically, that party is the president’s, as legislative elections are held a month after presidential ones, theoretically ensuring political stability.
In the last presidential election, Macron was reelected by default as his opponent in the second round, Marine Le Pen, is considered a dangerously extreme figure by French press. In subsequent legislative elections, Macron’s party failed to secure an absolute majority and was forced to ally with smaller centrist parties. They strepitously lost the 2024 European Parliament elections.
Public Finances on Fire
Macron, with his legendary arrogance, dubbed himself the “Mozart of Finance,” but he has created an unsustainable fiscal situation.
France has accumulated sovereign debt exceeding 114% of GDP, the highest in Europe in absolute terms. Interest payments could surpass €100 billion in 2029, making debt servicing the most significant expense in the national budget.
This is due to his inability or unwillingness to reduce the expenses of an overbloated welfare state. The purchasing power of the middle class has deteriorated; discontent grows. Meanwhile, public spending and civil servant privileges continue to grow unchecked, while the quality of state services declines.
France bears one of the world’s highest tax burdens, with taxes and contributions representing around 51% of GDP, compared to 39% in Germany, while its public spending hovers around 57% of GDP and its deficit exceeds 6%, reflecting an oversized state that collects much, spends more, and still borrows.
The structural deficit, estimated between 5.4% and 6% of GDP, is out of control and will worsen with the slowdown caused by the political crisis. Market reaction is not benign: the cost of debt is rising; Fitch, DBRS, S&P, and Moody’s have downgraded the country’s rating or eliminated any positive outlook.
Markets do not trust Nero to get the accounts in order. France is losing market confidence.
“There are two ways to conquer and subdue a nation,” said John Adams, the second president of the United States, “by force of arms or by debt.”
Macron has subjugated his country to the markets more effectively than any enemy could with arms.
Migrant Crisis and Insecurity
Under Macron’s governments, France has admitted around 800,000 legal and illegal migrants annually. Most come attracted by France’s generous welfare model and originate from Muslim countries, not seeking integration but to impose their culture, religion, and norms, some of which clash directly with the values of a democratic and egalitarian society.
Insecurity has grown alarmingly. Anti-Semitism against the French Jewish community has surged, fueled by these new migratory flows. Migration, far from addressing labor needs, is an opportunistic migration that takes advantage of France’s excessively generous but now financially strained redistribution system.
Institutional and Symbolic Degradation
Macron has reduced the dignity of the office to impotence. His political capital has eroded: his popularity hovers between 15% and 20%.
Security, employment, and public services continue to deteriorate amidst the chaos, and while Paris burns, Macron acts less like a statesman than a desperate tightrope walker. His chronic political incapacity puts the Constitution itself at risk.
Conclusion: Macron Threatens French Institutions
This is not just a bad government; it’s an institutional crisis. Macron, in his haughtiness, has chosen to ignore the people’s messages. He refuses to call for referendums that would allow French citizens to decide on essential matters: migration, security, public spending. He resists calling for legislative elections made necessary by the current political paralysis, as they would annihilate his party and further reduce his power.
More and more citizens, intellectuals, and high-level politicians demand his resignation. However, the position is comfortable, and his personal interest appears to outweigh national interest.
Unlike De Gaulle, who, after losing a referendum in 1959, preferred to resign, Macron is a leader without dignity or morality, determined to remain in power at any cost while Paris burns.
And when Trump says, “Macron speaks, and nobody cares,” it hurts, but it’s quite accurate.
It is likely that before 2027 — the next presidential election — the crisis will engulf him financially, politically, or socially. Like Nero, Macron has failed to understand or embody the role of head of state. His arrogant and disastrous management has diminished the presidential function’s prestige, historical dimension, and moral stature.
What he does or says no longer matters. Paris burns. Macron clings on. And the final question remains open: like Nero, will he dance?
