Affordability, taxes, deficits, debts. To paraphrase an adviser to Bill Clinton, it's (almost always) the economy, stupid, that vexes voters worldwide

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Incumbent governments everywhere are falling out of favour with angry electorates. In June, the European Parliament elections saw a collapse of incumbent party votes in almost all countries except Italy. India’s Narendra Modi won re-election but lost his majority and now leads a coalition. Our own federal Liberals, trailing the Conservatives by 15-20 points for a year, suffered a surprise byelection loss in a Toronto seat they’d held for three decades. American Democrats, already behind in key battleground states, are in a tizzy after a dreadful debate performance raised doubts about President Joe Biden’s fitness for office.

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This week, governments in the U.K. and France are feeling the anger. Gambling on an early election, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was unable over seven weeks of campaigning to dent Labour’s commanding lead. Nigel Farage’s fast-rising Reform Party, which hammered Sunak’s government over immigration policy and a weak post-Brexit economy, sprang virtually from nowhere to challenge the Conservatives and the Liberal-Democrats for the role of official opposition.

On Sunday, we’ll see if the right-wing Rassemblement National, led by Marine Le........

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