{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://embed.acast.com","title":"Macron vs Everyone","description":"<p>We talk to Shahin Vallee, former economics advisor to Emmanuel Macron, about the state of the Macron presidency: from the gilets jaunes to the pensions protests, from dealing with Merkel to facing off with Putin, and from now to the next presidential election in 2022.&nbsp;Did Macron save the centre of French politics or has he destroyed it?&nbsp;Can he really be sure he'll beat Le Pen next time?&nbsp;And what is his plan to rescue the West?&nbsp;Plus, we discuss what the Griveaux and Mila affairs tell us about the state of French politics.&nbsp;With Helen Thompson.</p><br><p>Talking Points:</p><br><p>How should we relate the gilets jaunes and the pensions protests?&nbsp;</p><ul><li>The pensions reform is a more traditional opposition to neoliberal reforms; the gilets jaunes is different and it includes a number of people who do not regularly express themselves politically.</li><li>The gilets jaunes crystallize a more profound opposition to the French political system.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Macron has centralized the French system to a remarkable extent.</p><ul><li>This is in part because of the collapse of the main parties.</li><li>But Macron’s majority is composed of people with a limited power base.&nbsp;</li><li>What you have is a presidential system with a weak cohort of parliamentarians.&nbsp;</li><li>Macron has also empowered the technocrats.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Macron’s claim to competence was that he was going to get reforms done.</p><ul><li>But the way he won power made it hard to achieve economic reform.</li><li>Macron forgot the importance of the unions in mediating public opinion.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Before Macron’s presidency, the hope was that France could get its house in order in exchange for favours from the EU.</p><ul><li>But there wasn’t much reason to believe that Europe would budge.</li><li>Macron lacks a theory of change for Europe.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Macron initially presented himself as above political divides, but that didn’t last too long.&nbsp;</p><ul><li>He chose a right-wing prime minister and then made domestic policy choices that signaled that he was on the right.</li><li>For example, he ended the State of Emergency law but then brought its provisions into standard legislation.</li><li>Macron destroyed the centre and divided and conquered the left, but he does have competition from the right.&nbsp;</li><li>In the next election, left wing voters might abstain rather than vote for Macron.&nbsp;</li><li>Macron presented himself as order versus chaos. The risk is that he now looks like the source of chaos.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Mentioned in this Episode:&nbsp;</p><ul><li><a href=\"https://www.euractiv.com/section/future-eu/news/in-munich-macron-presents-eu-reform-as-answer-to-weakening-west/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">More on Macron’s Munich speech</a></li></ul><p><br></p><p>Further Learning:&nbsp;</p><ul><li><a href=\"https://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_the_search_for_freedom_of_action_macrons_speech_on_nuclear_deter\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Commentary on Macron’s Munich speech from the European Council on Foreign Relations</a></li><li><a href=\"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51502427\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Background on pension reform in France</a></li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>And as ever, recommended reading curated by our friends at the LRB can be found here: </strong><a href=\"http://lrb.co.uk/talking\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>lrb.co.uk/talking</strong></a></p><p><br></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>","summary":"<p>We talk to Shahin Vallee, former economics advisor to Emmanuel Macron, about the state of the Macron presidency: from the gilets jaunes to the pensions protests, from dealing with Merkel to facing off with Putin, and from now to the next presidential election in 2022.&nbsp;Did Macron save the centre of French politics or has he destroyed it?&nbsp;Can he really be sure he'll beat Le Pen next time?&nbsp;And what is his plan to rescue the West?&nbsp;Plus, we discuss what the Griveaux and Mila affairs tell us about the state of French politics.&nbsp;With Helen Thompson.</p><br><p>Talking Points:</p><br><p>How should we relate the gilets jaunes and the pensions protests?&nbsp;</p><ul><li>The pensions reform is a more traditional opposition to neoliberal reforms; the gilets jaunes is different and it includes a number of people who do not regularly express themselves politically.</li><li>The gilets jaunes crystallize a more profound opposition to the French political system.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Macron has centralized the French system to a remarkable extent.</p><ul><li>This is in part because of the collapse of the main parties.</li><li>But Macron’s majority is composed of people with a limited power base.&nbsp;</li><li>What you have is a presidential system with a weak cohort of parliamentarians.&nbsp;</li><li>Macron has also empowered the technocrats.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Macron’s claim to competence was that he was going to get reforms done.</p><ul><li>But the way he won power made it hard to achieve economic reform.</li><li>Macron forgot the importance of the unions in mediating public opinion.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Before Macron’s presidency, the hope was that France could get its house in order in exchange for favours from the EU.</p><ul><li>But there wasn’t much reason to believe that Europe would budge.</li><li>Macron lacks a theory of change for Europe.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Macron initially presented himself as above political divides, but that didn’t last too long.&nbsp;</p><ul><li>He chose a right-wing prime minister and then made domestic policy choices that signaled that he was on the right.</li><li>For example, he ended the State of Emergency law but then brought its provisions into standard legislation.</li><li>Macron destroyed the centre and divided and conquered the left, but he does have competition from the right.&nbsp;</li><li>In the next election, left wing voters might abstain rather than vote for Macron.&nbsp;</li><li>Macron presented himself as order versus chaos. The risk is that he now looks like the source of chaos.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Mentioned in this Episode:&nbsp;</p><ul><li><a href=\"https://www.euractiv.com/section/future-eu/news/in-munich-macron-presents-eu-reform-as-answer-to-weakening-west/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">More on Macron’s Munich speech</a></li></ul><p><br></p><p>Further Learning:&nbsp;</p><ul><li><a href=\"https://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_the_search_for_freedom_of_action_macrons_speech_on_nuclear_deter\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Commentary on Macron’s Munich speech from the European Council on Foreign Relations</a></li><li><a href=\"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51502427\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Background on pension reform in France</a></li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>And as ever, recommended reading curated by our friends at the LRB can be found here: </strong><a href=\"http://lrb.co.uk/talking\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>lrb.co.uk/talking</strong></a></p><p><br></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>","width":600,"height":180,"thumbnail_url":"https://thumborcdn.acast.com/hDCw6A1imQo055xJO-VPX6z86q0=/350x350/https%3A%2F%2Fassets.pippa.io%2Fshows%2F6195701f2eacc3a36070252a%2F619570bccb3c660012e3d05d.jpg","thumbnail_width":350,"thumbnail_height":350,"url":"https://embed.acast.com/talkingpolitics/macronvseveryone","html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/talkingpolitics/macronvseveryone\" width=\"100%\" height=\"180px\" scrolling=\"no\" frameBorder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;overflow:hidden;\"></iframe>","amp":"<amp-iframe width=\"600\" height=\"180\" layout=\"responsive\" title=\"Macron vs Everyone\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin\" frameborder=\"0\" src=\"https://embed.acast.com/talkingpolitics/macronvseveryone\"></amp-iframe>"}