THE return to work after the summer break, known in France as la rentrée, is always a time of uncertainty and change. But nobody expected such a political upheaval. On August 25th the entire government was forced to resign after simmering disagreements over economic policy under President François Hollande erupted into the open. This prompted the eviction of anti-austerity ministers, and the formation of a fresh government under the same reformist prime minister, Manuel Valls. The upshot is greater clarity over economic policy, but more political uncertainty over putting it into effect.The turmoil began when Arnaud Montebourg, the firebrand left-wing industry minister, lashed out at the government’s economic policy in a newspaper interview and then at a political rally. Amid bottles of burgundy and plates of local chicken at a fête in his old constituency, Mr Montebourg denounced austerity. It was a “financial absurdity” and an “economic aberration”, he declared, and France should not be “aligning itself with the obsessions of the German right”.Mr Montebourg, who has a taste for theatrics, has seldom been shy about voicing disagreements…
