For the fourth consecutive Saturday, protesters clad in yellow reflective jackets symbolic of their rebellion marched through the country’s cities. A chastened French government suspended the carbon tax last week, prompting President Trump to crow over Macron’s doomed commitment to a climate agenda. It provided the kindling that sparked support for Trump in many Midwestern states, former industrial hotbeds hit by the steady disappearance of manufacturing jobs. Macron, now viewed by his critics as an aloof, technocratic would-be monarch, came to power as an outsider bent on shaking up France’s political establishment. It is their belief that transient economic strife is the worst that could possibly happen,” wrote Janan Ganesh of the Financial Times.

Source: Washington Post December 10, 2018 05:59 UTC