Big Five: Stock Market Blame Game

A roundup of opinions in today's Los Angles Times, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and USA Today:

The Stock Market: Who should we blame for Tuesday's stock market slide: China, Alan Greenspan or ourselves? Stephen Roach, chief economist at Morgan Stanley, argues that the crash was the first part of an overdue "venting process" for the overheated Chinese economy, a sign that Chinese growth is not "open-ended" ... writing in the WSJ, Lawrence Kudlow argues that "the trigger for Tuesday's drop undoubtedly came from China" ... the NYT disagrees, arguing that while the drop "could turn out to have been a garden-variety correction," it probably signals something more troubling: "The next crisis appears to be building around weakness in the United States, not in Russia or Asia or South America" ... the WSJ argues that the plunge proves that China's "domestic stock markets don't have all that much to do with the rest of the world" and that the "far larger threat of 'contagion' from China is from U.S. protectionism or lobbying for Beijing to revalue its currency" ... USA Today criticizes former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan for helping to trigger the slide by "telling a Hong Kong group that a U.S. recession is 'possible' later this year."

Iran, Syria and Iraq: USA Today argues that the Bush administration's decision to hold talks on Iraq with Iran and Syria proves the administration's "end game in Iraq appears to be taking shape," and that its strategy increasingly looks like the recommendations made by the Iraq Study Group ... the WaPo, while admitting that it's "quite possible that neither Syria nor Iran will prove cooperative on Iraq," applauds the Bush administration's decision to sit down with the two countries ... responding to USA Today's editorial, Victor David Hanson explains why negotiating with Iran and Syria is a mistake: "the United States should not negotiate directly with these terrorist states until they cooperate with ongoing United Nations investigations and cease trying to destroy neighboring democracies."

Al Sharpton and Slavery: Al Sharpton explains what it was like to learn that his great-grandfather was owned by a relative of former U.S. Senator Strom Thurman: "This revelation about my ancestors has made slavery real to me. It is no longer an abstract horror" ... NYT columnist Bob Herbert uses Sharpton's saga to point out that the "days of slavery are closer than we tend to think, and they were crueler than we tend to realize": "Slavery was the foundation of the thriving consumer society that we have today and the wellspring of the racism that still poisons so many white attitudes and black lives."

Unions: The LAT criticizes a bill the House is expected to pass today that abolishes secret balloting for union organizing, arguing that it gives unions too much power ... the WSJ says the bill exposes the Democrats, who "have been trying to present themselves as 'moderates,'" as beholden to "anti-business" special interests.

Today's Editorials:

LAT ... applauds the Bush administration's decision to send the vice president to Pakistan to signal its unhappiness with the country's performance fighting the resurgent Taliban. The U.S. may "increase the likelihood of Islamist success," the editors argue, "if it continues to allow Musharraf to repress the moderate opposition while making deals with the Islamists" ... cheekily cautions readers against investing in stamps now that the U.S. Postal Service will be issuing stamps that increase in value whenever the Postal Service raises the price of sending a letter.

NYT ... argues that the case of Jose Padilla illustrates why torturing prisoners doesn't work: "mistreating a prisoner makes it hard, if not impossible, for a real court to judge whether he has committed real crimes" ... applauds the American Heart Association for issuing new suggested guidelines to doctors this week outlining how to treat patients with cardiovascular problems ... cheers the New York City Opera's choice for new general manager and artistic director Gerard Mortier.

WaPo ... notes that redevelopment in New Orleans has been too slow, and urges President Bush, who is visiting the region today, to "use the bully pulpit of the presidency to energize all levels of government to rebuild the devastated Gulf Coast" ... criticizes the Smithsonian Board of Regents and the museum's head, Lawrence Small, for Small's "lavish" and "extravagant" personal use of federal funds, which the board has defended.

Today's Columns:

LAT: Patt Morrison wonders if a development plan for downtown Los Angeles is really needed ... David Kaye on the semantics of the term "genocide."

NYT: Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) remind us that the Senate's vote to authorize the Iraq war was not a binary one -- there was a third option, an amendment from Senator Carl Levin (D-Mi) that approved of multilateral use of force that was "unambiguous and compatible with international law." Chafee notes that the resolution was opposed by every senator who is now running for president, and says the candidates "should be called to account for their vote on the Levin amendment."

Plus ... Jack Miles on the global Anglican Communion's threat to expel the American Episcopal Church from its ranks ... David Brooks on how life outside the classroom shapes a child's performance in school.

WaPo: Robert Novak argues that without a true Republican frontrunner in the GOP presidential campaign, the race is far from over. Novak suggests that former Virginia Governor James Gilmore or Newt Gingrich may eventually fill the "conservative void."

Plus ... Alan Abramowitz and Bill Bishop on America's growing partisan divide ... Lee Hockstader on Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and his state's transportation dilemma.

WSJ: Michael O'Hanlon urges opponents of the Iraq surge to "tolerate it for a few more months" to give the plan a chance to succeed.

Plus ... Jeremy Siegel and Jeremy Schwartz on the S&P 500's 50th birthday ... Daniel Henninger on why the Medal of Honor doesn't carry the prestige it once did.

USA Today: Ross Baker argues that time in office doesn't translate into Oval Office success -- good news for Barack Obama, he says.

By Rob Anderson |  March 1, 2007; 6:35 AM ET
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