When economists look back on the Coalition's record in dealing with the public finances we may well find that ‘austerity' is more a concept than a reality.

Spending cuts, especially in local government, have been offset by huge amounts of quantitive easing from the Bank of England.

Interviewed this week in a UK newspaper, the French technology minister expressed admiration for the way the Coalition had somehow managed to both be praised for cutting spending while shovelling buckets of liquidity into the UK economy.

Compare that to the French economy which has not only had its credit rating downgraded but in the last quarter saw a drop of 0.1% in GDP growth.

An EU report last week tactfully explained that France's public sector along with its business tax policy was overdue for reform.

Poor old President Francois Hollande, now apparently the most unpopular president since the start of the Fifth Republic, cannot take all the blame for the state of the French economy.

Unlike Cameron he has only been head of state since 2012 so his predecessor, the conservative Sarkozy, must also bear responsibility for the poor state of the French finances since he was in charge when the fiscal crash occurred.

But nor is it just politicians who must take the rap for avoiding difficult decisions, for there is also a cultural gulf between public attitudes in the UK and in France to deficit reduction.