Bloomberg Britain recorded a larger-than-forecast budget deficit in the first month of the new fiscal year as accelerating inflation pushed up debt costs and depressed consumer spending. Net borrowing was 10.4 billion pounds ($13.5 billion) in April, the highest for the month since 2014 and up 1.2 billion pounds from a year earlier. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicted an 8.7 …

Bloomberg The European Central Bank is finding out just how hard it might be to avoid the heat in its home country this summer. In the past few days, Germans have been told that their government will push for the nation to get the next ECB presidency and that monetary policy is the cause of a “too weak” euro. Fresh …

Center-left parties throughout the Western world have been tempted to pick dogmatic, hard-left leaders. In Europe, one after another party has succumbed to the temptation, though it has hurt their electoral chances. It seems illogical, but it may eventually pay off. The Spanish Socialists, the party that has been in government most since the country democratized, has just returned Pedro …