French governments of all stripes have been unable seriously to reform an economy that, for two decades, has delivered high unemployment, poor growth and a growing sense of despair.

Whenever they tried some moderate reform, they soon retreated in the face of strikes and street demonstrations. Explanations abound, from a history of revolutionary fervour, which confers as much legitimacy to the street as to par- liament, to a widespread anti-market ideology, which sees government intervention as the solution to all woes. Could it just be a question of method? France is fundamentally a country of rentiers who naturally resist any threat to their privileges. The solution could be simply to buy out their rents; that is, the anti-competitive advantages granted by the state.