In a fresh sign of confidence about the euro zone’s recovery, the European Commission has just upgraded its growth forecasts for the bloc. This raises a question: Should governments now start tightening fiscal policy to put their public finances on a sounder footing? It depends. Many euro-zone countries have worryingly high levels of public debt, and the best time to ...

Many remarkable things happened in this year’s French presidential election. Emmanuel Macron became the youngest president of France. The extremist party garnered highest-ever scores. And for the first time, none of France’s traditional parties were represented in the final vote. Despite these extraordinary developments, the 39-year-old president’s future in office is full of challenges. He has daunting tasks ahead. Macron ...

When discussing countries that have undergone astonishing economic transformations — as, most notably, China has over the past few decades — observers usually credit success to industrialization. After all, that’s the visible consequence of rapid growth: Where sleepy fishing villages once lay, ports and factories and high-speed rail networks spring up. The people who lived in those villages are in ...