Despite the ECB's powerful TPI backstop, it's unlikely to be used for France. Market turmoil there is driven by fundamental concerns over France's own lack of fiscal consolidation, not an external shock. This highlights a crucial limit of central bank intervention: safety nets are not designed to solve domestic political and fiscal failures.

A country's fiscal health is becoming a primary driver of its currency's value, at times overriding central bank actions. Currencies like the British Pound face a "fiscal risk premium" due to borrowing concerns, while the Swedish Krona benefits from a positive budget outlook. This creates a clear divergence between fiscal "haves" and "have-nots."

Contrary to popular belief, Nordic countries are not socialist. They operate on a capitalist framework with private markets. Their extensive social safety nets are funded by extremely high taxes on everyone, including the middle and lower classes—a model fundamentally different from socialism's state ownership of production.

History shows a strong correlation between extreme national debt and societal breakdown. Countries that sustain a debt-to-GDP ratio over 130% for an extended period (e.g., 18 months) tend to tear themselves apart through civil war or revolution, not external attack.

Pensioners receive benefits because they spent decades working, contributing to the system, and accumulating political bargaining power. A society of "forever pensioners" who never had that economic leverage would be at the mercy of the ruling elite's whims.

When a government's deficit spending forces it to borrow new money simply to cover the interest on existing debt, it enters a self-perpetuating "debt death spiral." This weakens the nation's financial position until it either defaults or is forced to make brutal, unpopular cuts, risking internal turmoil.

For a defined benefit pension plan, the ultimate measure of success is not outperforming peers or benchmarks. It is simply whether the plan can meet its financial obligations to beneficiaries. Failing to do so is a complete failure, regardless of how other plans performed.

Economist Peter Schiff highlights a historical pattern where countries, except for Japan, that surpass a 130% debt-to-GDP ratio experience internal strife, such as civil war or revolution. This is due to the inability to fund government programs, leading to societal breakdown and extreme political polarization.

While praised for social safety nets, Nordic countries have higher taxes, slower GDP growth, and far less venture capital funding than the U.S. Their model represents a specific trade-off, not a universally superior system, and struggles with scale and diversity.