There’s a flaw in the forecast for an ever-rising Asia: a vast gap in the financial system. Big slices of the population don’t have a bank account. It’s hard to see the region reaching its full potential, let alone surpassing the US as an economic superpower, until this bridge is crossed. An economy without broad use of banks cannot grow ...

Spare a thought for Mario Draghi, if you can. The European Central Bank (ECB) president never tires of telling politicians about the urgent need to complete the euro zone’s half-finished monetary union. His logic is sound about this being the best way to fight future crises. Yet after a year in which the region’s leaders failed to do even the ...

Bloomberg European Central Bank policy maker Peter Praet said he doesn’t believe President Mario Draghi intended to send a new signal when he said the pickup in underlying euro-area inflation is “relatively vigorous.” The euro slid after Praet, the ECB’s chief economist, made the remarks in London on Tuesday. The single currency jumped the previous day when Draghi spoke at ...