Growing concerns around France's potential debt crisis rattled global financial markets last week. The country's high national debt, mounting interest costs and policymakers' inability to rein in spending caused a bond sell-off amid renewed speculation that the government could default on its obligations.

If the situation sounds familiar, it should. France's national debt problem eerily resembles our own here in the U.S.

This year France's national debt reached 119% of its GDP. The country is expected to amass a deficit of 163 billion euros ($183 billion) this year, equal to more than 5% of its GDP. And while French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu presented a budget that would create some 54 billion euros of savings through reduced spending and increased revenue, many question whether it can get past political opposition.

As a result, France's economy is trapped in what The Wall Street Journal called a "negative feedback loop." Uncertainty about whether the country's leaders can draw down spending and fix the nation's finances has stymied economic growth — business investment fell to 0.3% this year, down from 4.5% in 2024 — which, in turn, has made the prospect of digging out from the fiscal hole even more daunting.

Some economists have proposed that the European Central Bank may need to intervene to stave off a larger economic slowdown. But as American economist and commentator Paul Krugman notes, as the second-largest economy in the Eurozone, "France may have crossed the line from too big to fail to too big to save."

The United States is not immune from the disruptions caused by France's fiscal problems. Spooked investors have exited the bond market in droves recently, driving up U.S. borrowing costs to a 24-year high. In other words, panic in France's bond market is bleeding over to here in the States, which could exacerbate our deficit further.

There is an important lesson here for American lawmakers: We cannot afford to ignore our national debt any longer.

The United States' national debt burden is larger than France's relative to GDP — 126% of our GDP, compared to France's 119%. So too is our projected deficit this year, which economists estimate will exceed 6% of GDP, up from 5.8% last year.

Perhaps the largest driver of France's financial woes is the country's inability, or disinterest, in cutting spending. As one journalist wrote, the "Gaullist legacy of fiscal responsibility has become conspicuously absent" — a reference to former head of state Charles de Gaulle's commitment to keeping the country's debt low relative to its economic output.

A similar departure from fiscal responsibility has happened here in the United States. Long gone, it seems, are the days of "Reaganomics," which championed limited government and private-sector growth. Instead, it's been replaced by a belief that Uncle Sam should be the purveyor of citizens' every want and need.

In 2000, U.S. government spending amounted to less than $2 trillion. This year, our annual deficit — the difference between what the federal government collects in taxes and what it spends — will exceed that amount. Our total 2026 spending is expected to total $7.4 trillion, more than three times as much as 2000.

And what's to show for it? Rampant government spending has caused inflation to run wild, while rapidly growing federal interest payments have driven up borrowing costs for ordinary families. It's no wonder a record 55% of Americans this year said that their personal finances are getting worse.

While Democrats, who are working tirelessly to impose their socialist agenda on the public, may cheer Washington's reckless spending, most Americans do not. In a 2024 survey, the Bipartisan Policy Center found that nearly six in 10 U.S. adults believe the government does a poor job of managing their tax dollars.

In another poll this year, over 80% of voter said that lawmakers should spend more time addressing the national debt. More than three-quarters agreed that reducing the debt should be a "top-three" priority.

Our biggest challenge is not that we can't bring the national debt to heel. America, after all, has always risen to her biggest challenges. Instead, like France, our biggest challenge is that lawmakers will not have the political resolve to address the problem.

In 2018, slightly more than 40% of Americans said the greatest threat to our economy was political gridlock. Today, more than half are skeptical that lawmakers will make progress on cutting the national debt in the short term.

France's debt crisis offers a glimpse of what's to come if lawmakers in Washington cannot prove those perceptions wrong and work together to get our national debt on a sustainable, downward path.

Ken Buck served in the United States House of Representatives from 2015-2024 representing Colorado's 4th congressional district. He now serves as a Fellow with the Independent Center. To find out more about Ken Buck and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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