Like wars, pandemics drive changes that are bound to outlast them. The Black Death in the mid-14th century helped raise wages across Europe, since labor had become scarce and workers could command a premium from landowners. Similarly, the Covid-19 crisis looks set to have long-term consequences on…

The arrival of vaccines carries hope that an end to the pandemic may be in sight. But even after the health crisis is brought under control, governments will have to continue dealing with the economic consequences. Two primary concerns have emerged: The first is addressing the inequalities…

The European Union’s attempt to put together a joint fiscal response to the Covid-19 recession is being held up by a pair of troublemakers. Hungary and Poland are resisting efforts to link the disbursement of emergency funds to a commitment to the rule of law, which they see as an undue intrusion…

The Covid pandemic has forced governments to make some impossible choices. Shutting down schools, for example, can help limit contagion but at an enormous cost to a generation of students in terms of lost education and future opportunities. You can understand why politicians try so hard to keep…

The public outcry against bank bailouts during the financial crisis prompted European governments to constrain the use of public money to help lenders in crisis. New trouble at the region’s oldest bank will test whether these rules can outlast the pandemic. The Italian government faces an…

In the first half of 2020, Europe mounted a bold and swift economic response to the Covid recession. As the second wave of the pandemic triggers a new slowdown, policy makers appear to have lost some of their mojo. Governments are struggling to deal effectively with the health crisis, as they…

The discovery of two seemingly effective vaccines has raised hopes that the world will soon return to normal. For Europe’s banking system, however, this may not be an easy transition. Bankers are bracing themselves for a big increase in non-performing loans after this year’s deep recession. From…

The European Central Bank appears serious about a digital euro. Barely a month after the central bank issued a major report on the topic, and opened a public consultation, President Christine Lagarde said “her hunch” is that the euro zone could have its own electronic currency within two to four…

The election of Joe Biden as US president has prompted sighs of relief across the world — not least because his White House is expected to be a boon for the international economy. Donald Trump’s erratic behavior on trade and currencies has weighed on foreign companies and governments while doing…

The development of what looks like an effective vaccine against Covid-19 has ignited hopes that the worst of the pandemic will be over relatively soon. If successful, it will also vindicate a strategy that has proven controversial: Slowing down the spread of SARS-CoV-2 through draconian…