Salaries are very rarely discussed in public in any context. When people do discuss them, they claim to earn less than they actually do. Although civil servants’ salaries are theoretically public, the system is so riddled with perks and bonuses that it’s impossible to actually know what any civil servant earns. By the same token, French tax offices have always had difficulty assessing how much money there is in the country. The switch to the euro brought a lot of cash back into the system because an estimated 80 per cent of all five hundred–franc bills were said to be stashed in mattresses and pillows across the country. When French protesters demonstrate, they never openly ask for money; they wrap it in another demand like better working conditions.