France’s Paralysis Is Europe’s Cautionary Tale: Editorial

France’s Fifth Republic once promised decisive government. Today it is mostly known for paralysis and political theater. The country’s fourth government in a little over a year barely survived no-confidence votes last week — and only by abandoning crucial pension reforms meant to get the country’s fiscal house in order.

This year’s French Nobel laureate in economics, Philippe Aghion, has decried the political instability as a “tragedy for France.” It’s also a lesson for all of Europe.

France’s fiscal troubles, and partisan gridlock, are less cause than the consequence of a deeper dysfunction: a state that spends freely and yet ...