| We’re almost into the second week of August, which means fewer cars on the streets of Paris, more boulangeries with the shutters down and more out-of-office replies piling up. Not all politicians have fled to the beach, though, with increasingly unpopular Prime Minister Francois Bayrou putting in the hours to try to win the French over to his plans for €44 billion in savings to get the public deficit under control. He’s taken to social media to drive home the message that France’s debt pile will endanger the country if it’s not tackled.  Francois Bayrou. Photographer: Nathan Laine/Bloomberg Yet the more taxation pressures rise while perks like public holidays get cut back, the more likely it is that resentment will bubble up among white-collar taxpayers who already feel short-changed by a welfare state that always seems to put pensioners first. It’s being captured in a viral meme and hashtag, “Nicolas Pays,” which casts 40-something office worker Nicolas as overtaxed and burnt out compared to his sun-tanned boomer forebears. While hardly Gilets Jaunes territory, it’s another sign of polarization in the late-Macron era. This is not unique to France – millennial office-worker disillusionment is also seen in the UK’s HENRY group (High Earner, Not Rich Yet) and American quiet quitters. The Nicolas meme is cruder and more populist, drawing accusations of far-right sympathies. It’s also more pampered when you consider France’s strengths including low income inequality and a redistributive state that for 60% of the population gives back more than it takes.
Social Groups Reliant on Public Transfers:  Bloomberg Economics Yet the kernel of truth is that work doesn’t pay like it used to. Real wage growth has slowed to a crawl while those out of work such as pensioners enjoy higher living standards than the national average. Estimates from former government advisor Antoine Foucher suggest that it’s more profitable to earn €100 through investment, retirement or inheritance than through work. This makes France almost structurally unable to make real headway on deficit reduction, says Jean Dalbard of Bloomberg Economics, as pensioners – those who would bear the highest direct cost from any cut to social transfers – are the ones who vote. Expect the quiet quitters of France to get louder once the back-to-work budget gets underway. France's constitutional court invalidated provisions of a new law that would have allowed the use of a banned pesticide. France's thorny relations with Algeria plunged to a fresh low, as President Emmanuel Macron urged “greater firmness” in its approach The UK has detained the first small-boat migrants under a “one in, one out” returns treaty with France. A French startup developing battlefield drones and software is seeking to raise $200 million in early funding. Accor has been speaking with advisers about a potential Ennismore unit listing, which would seek to value the business at several billion dollars. Renault is among a growing band of European companies turning to their own benches to select a leader. French industrial production saw its biggest increase in five years, driven by transport materials as supply-chain constraints eased. Monday: Bank of France economic survey Thursday: July CPI Parisian luxury is breaking new ground in New York: After five years of construction, LVMH brand Dior has opened its first-ever location with an in-boutique wellness space. | 
