High glamour and high solitude in Les Trois Vallées January 6, 2026 From Asian-inspired glamour to Savoie savoir-faire, there’s no one way to ski Les Trois Vallées, writes Carys Sharkey As a skiing destination, Courchevel hardly needs an introduction. It is one of France’s most prestigious resorts and boasts the largest interconnected ski area in the world in the form of the Les Trois Vallées, linking Méribel [...]
IMF sounds alarm on soaring sovereign debt October 15, 2025 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged governments to bear down on profligate spending after it found government debt was on course to reach 100 per cent of global GDP within the next five years. In its latest Fiscal Monitor report, the world’s preeminent financial institution sounded the alarm on developed and developing nations’ over-reliance [...]
What would a far-right leader in France mean for Europe? October 14, 2025 Despite growing economic strains and political turbulence in both countries, a potential alignment between Germany’s centre-right Chancellor Friedrich Merz and a far-right French president could temporarily steady Europe’s core — but deep fiscal and ideological divides between Paris and Berlin still threaten the long-term stability of the European Union and its single currency, says David [...]
‘Storm of volatility’ carries gold past $4,000 per ounce October 8, 2025 A flurry of political drama across several major economies has stoked already existing fears around ballooning sovereign debt to fuel gold’s rise this year, market strategists have said, after the precious metal shot past $4,000 per troy ounce for the first time in its history on Wednesday. Analysts said the ongoing political impasses in France [...]
French borrowing costs surge as political crisis deepens October 6, 2025 French assets suffered at the hands of a brutal sell-off on Monday, after the country’s latest prime minister resigned just a month into the role, exacerbating an already grave political crisis. French stocks tumbled across the board while government borrowing costs climbed sharply to their highest since 2011, after newly appointed prime minister Sebastien Lecornu [...]
UK second most at risk from debt crisis of all major economies September 29, 2025 The UK is the second most likely major economy to face a debt crisis in the next two years, a fresh survey of financial professionals has found, as investors remain unconvinced by the country’s growth prospects and efforts to keep a lid on spending. According to a Deutsche Bank poll released on Monday, France is [...]
How are ‘bankrupt’ France’s borrowing costs still lower than ours? September 29, 2025 Locked in a protracted political crisis over the extent of its indebtedness – and with its deficit running at over five per cent of GDP – France has earned itself the unwanted monikers of ‘the sick man of Europe’ and the ‘new Greece’. Despite these woes, its borrowing costs remain lower than the UK’s. Ali [...]
French bosses round on ‘deadly’ wealth tax plans September 23, 2025 Some of France’s most high-profile entrepreneurs have rounded on a wealth tax proposal being touted by a party key to the flailing government’s fortune, warning it would risk “destroying the French economy” and sparking an exodus of the country’s wealthiest residents. Bernard Arnault, the billionaire chief executive of luxury behemoth LVMH and France’s richest man, [...]
Starmer and Macron face a shared Waterloo September 18, 2025 Facing crippling national debt and a politically divided public, both Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have proved unable to implement necessary economic reforms, and both are heading for a downfall driven by market forces, says Helen Thomas A country gripped by the highest debt levels since the Second World War; an unpopular leader facing a [...]
Borrowing costs surge as gilts close in on 27-year low August 26, 2025 Long-dated gilts plunged to a near 27-year low on Tuesday, bringing the UK’s fragile fiscal position into even sharper relief in the run-up to the government’s second Budget this Autumn. The yield on 30-year UK government bonds, which moves inversely to the price, jumped by as much as nine basis points to 5.63 per cent, [...]