The French are having a cabinet shuffle, and it's the left wing of a Socialist government that's getting tossed under the bus. EU rules limit how much of a deficit you can run and the French are struggling to keep within those limits, at least while keeping up the size of government a Socialist would like. Balancing a budget requires cutting spending and/or raising taxes, and neither is all that helpful in a stagnant economy.
So, the left wing of the French cabinet raised Keynes (or at least raised Krugman) in wanting to goose the economy and were shown the door. Ironically, the millionaire-dissing President Hollande wound up putting a banker in charge of the economic portfolio. Sounds more like Bill Clinton than the current US president, and that fact will likely have implication for future elections.
A couple of presidential elections ago, the left split three ways, letting the nativist National Front come in second. If friction amongst the left continues, we could easily see a repeat of that in 2017 when Hollande is up for reelection (if the Socialist want him running again). A more housebroken National Front might well do far better than the 18% they got in the 2002 runoff, given the current party leader, Marine Le Pen, has a less rednecky persona than her dad Jean-Marie did and the FN's trademark issue of immigration is more of a hot-button issue than a decade ago.
The current scuffle amongst the French Socialists has an echo of Tony Blair-era Labour, in that a moderate leftist got elected, much to the chagrin of traditional hard-left folks. Blair had more charm than Hollande and more friends in the media, so he had an easier time fending off his back-benchers, at least until his backing of the Iraq war became toxic.
Hollande might not be as fortunate. The conflict might get worse before it gets better, especially if the French and EU economies stay stagnant for the next few years.
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