On one level, there’s nothing so surprising about Moody’s Investors Service’s decision to downgrade China’s sovereign debt one notch to A1. Since March last year, when the rating company and its rival S&P Global Ratings cut their outlook on the People’s Republic’s credit standing, an eventual demotion has been the most likely outcome. Still, it mustn’t have been an easy …

When Enda Kenny’s center-right Fine Gael party came to power in 2011, Ireland was dealing with the collapse of its banking system and struggling to comply with the demands of an international rescue program. Six years later, the economy is booming. Unemployment has fallen from nearly 15 percent to a little over 6 percent, and Ireland pays less to borrow …

Emmanuel Macron is nothing if not persuasive. He’s built a political movement from scratch and won enough votes from France’s established parties to take the keys to the Elysee Palace. He’ll need those skills and more to carry out an essential reform that has eluded all his predecessors — freeing up France’s labor market. Just last year, France debated the …