Europe’s dangerous winter of discontent

Rents are soaring. Energy prices are rising, fueling pain at the pump and inflation. Growth is stagnating. And borrowing costs are climbing in France, Italy, Spain and Greece, meaning cash that could have been used to rebuild schools, subsidize housing or compensate drought-stricken farmers must now go toward repaying creditors. The societal consequences of this spiraling cost-of-living crisis are already surfacing, from rioting and looting in France on the sidelines of peaceful protests to blocked supply chains in Italy and giant campouts in historic Spanish plazas . Authorities in Paris and Rome are deploying extra security forces to prevent similar scenes from playing out in the coming days.