France and Germany have agreed on an idea for improving euro-zone budget policy, and other governments have said they can support it. The plan falls short of what’s needed, but it’s progress nonetheless. The greatest weakness of the euro zone is that it lacks a way to support member states that fall into recession: Monetary policy isn’t enough, because the ...

India’s finance industry is letting a good crisis go to waste by not learning from it. The sudden $12.8 billion bankruptcy of infrastructure lender IL&FS Group, currently sequestered under a government-blessed, out-of-court process, underscores India’s lack of preparedness to handle a big shift in lending in recent years — away from banks. Before I illustrate that challenge with a little ...

Watch out: Jack Ma’s Singles Day is going to make Black Friday a lot less alluring. There’s trepidation in the air this holiday season. In just a few brutal trading days, the whipsawing US stock market wiped out its entire 2018 gain. Meanwhile, the US economy is heading for a 10th year of expansion, by far the longest in history. ...