Europe urgently needs to repair a banking system that’s weighing on the region’s economy. Governments say they understand, but they still aren’t taking the task seriously. The issue is global standards for capital — the bedrock financing that makes banks capable of absorbing losses without going bust. Lack of capital in 2008 turned financial setbacks into a full-scale crisis. ...

  Venezuela’s political and economic mess is deepening. Pro and anti-government rallies were taken out on Wednesday as the game of trading accusations continues to imperil the country’s future. Its president Nicolas Maduro has been charged by the opposition with halting the decision to call a referendum on removing him from power. On the other hand, Maduro has accused the ...

After many years of 7- to 10-percent growth, economies tend to overheat, creating bubbles that burst. That’s what happened to South Korea and Japan in the 1980s and 1990s. But China’s economy keeps plugging along (though probably not at its published growth rate of 6.7 percent), defying the predictions of doomsaying pundits. Some indicators show a recovery this year. That ...