French President Emmanuel Macron has dissolved France’s National Assembly, the lower house of the French Parliament. Macron has called elections for late June and early July because France’s far-right party, National Rally, did much better than expected in the June 9 elections for the European Parliament.

National Rally won about 31.4% of the vote, while Macron’s Renaissance party trailed badly, winning only about 14% of the vote. Macron is forcing the French people to decide between the center or far-right populism. France’s real problem is that its economy is moribund. The French people are polarized over economic and social reforms. Financial markets understand that France faces likely unsolvable challenges that won’t be fixed by elections.