Revolt of the "Yellow Vests": Is France Going the Way of Greece?

The revolt of the “Gilets jaunes” (Yellow Vests) is not only about the recent taxes on fuel – it has been brewing for quite some time. It has been caused by a steady decline in purchasing power, which has progressively strangled low-income workers. It started, actually, at the beginning of the 2000s, when a rise in the prices of commodities and real estate put a serious dent in available income. This deterioration was missed by INSEE, with its bogus price index, as I’ve shown in my book, and it provoked the ire of households as well as the blindness of political leaders. On top of that, there has been an explosion of various taxes on householdssince 2008. The most recent ones – on fuel – have finally triggered a national revolt. The November 24 protests on Champs-Élysées, with their violent acts – mostly due to groups that have nothing to do with the Yellow Vests – and the thousands of check points all across the country show images of a country under siege, not unlike...

from GoldBroker.com https://www.goldbroker.com/news/revolt-yellow-vests-is-france-going-the-way-of-greece-1445