High indebtedness has prompted a call for France to cancel part of its public liabilities. The latest is the call from the left-leaning French populist politician, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, to cancel 18 percent of the country's public debt; in his words 'to just take the bonds, and burn them.' We have heard similar appeals before: in Europe as the euro zone debt crisis detonated, and around the same time in the US.

All those roads, however, lead to more inflation and the debauchment of financial assets. Ideas spread, so expect similarly unorthodox demands elsewhere as governments grapple with high debt, while political disruptors air increasingly unconventional policies.

The greatest hits of the GFC keep getting played.