Editorial. Budget blank year in 2026: a nasty black magic trick...

That's it, it's settled. No need to worry about the public deficit. The Bayrou government has found the solution: cryogenics. The idea is simple, brilliant, and fictitious: it involves freezing spending in 2026. We take the figures for 2025 and repeat. Painless? Not at all. Because Lady Inflation doesn't give a damn about "blank years" and other public finance tricks. She continues on her way, nibbling away 1.5 or 2% of the value of a banknote. At the end of next year, the bill in question will be relentlessly reduced by the amount of the price increase. If it doesn't increase, it's because it's decreasing: clever, right? Not indexing credits to this "mechanical" inflation would, if the measure were to be adopted, allow for the setting aside of 24 billion without having to lift a finger. Politically, it's certain that the "magic" formula would have only advantages. The Prime Minister could thus trumpet that he's making savings without upsetting anyone, or almost anyone. But what about the budgets for health, education, and defense? A mystery and a bubble of gum.

Okay, let's admit it. All this is well and good, but in the end, someone's going to pay, right? Yes, it's the local authorities who will be the first to pay. Put on a strict diet last September, they're in a bad way. Since this Wednesday, for example, the Departments have exhausted the annual allowance paid by the State for the social benefits they redistribute (RSA, elderly people, and all that). The remaining six months are on their hands. In other words, ours. Inevitably, the Municipalities, Departments, and Regions will have to find money somewhere to balance their 2026 budget and make two or three essential investments. And this "somewhere" will be in the taxpayer's pocket. QED: A blank year, bleak prospects, and a cascade of hot potatoes.