A “festival of economics” sounds like a contradiction in terms. What next? A bacchanalia of boredom? A celebration of sophistry? Thomas Carlyle dubbed economics “the dismal science” for good reason. Yet Turin’s International Festival of Economics lived up to its billing. Giuseppe Laterza, the festival impresario, got the inspiration of the festival from two sources: the Hay-on-Wye book festival in ...

  In recent days, prominent venture capital funds have come out with survival tips for their portfolio companies. While asking startup founders to tighten their belt is sound advice, it’s worth wondering when venture capital titans might be urged by their investors to scale back their own pay, too. Their compensation has been rising fast. Last year, median cash pay ...

  Inflation in the euro area surged to 8.1% in the year to May, yet again higher than expected. Up to now, despite signs that inflation was getting entrenched, the European Central Bank (ECB) had chosen to stand pat. It had its reasons, but they’re no longer persuasive. The ECB’s task is difficult, to put it mildly — and only ...