Social crisis: activist student judges political leaders 'out of touch'

Common points

• =Executives' purchasing power is falling for the first time since 2010, according to the Apec barometer.
• =The feeling of downward mobility and economic fragility affects a large part of the French population.
• =Inflation, particularly food inflation, weighs on household budgets and trade-offs.
• =French people are developing alternative strategies (flea markets, money pots, bartering) to cope.

Divergences

• ≠The left highlights the rise in poverty and structural inequalities, while the right insists on national decline and the responsibility of public policies.
• ≠The center presents individual solutions and measures (one-euro meals, flea markets), while the left criticizes the notion of purchasing power as an illusion and the right denounces taxes and the cost of energy.
• ≠The left cites barometers on the feeling of impoverishment and poverty, the right cites Eurostat wage data and op-eds on work, and the center consumption indicators and parliamentary debates.