You know, in a real sick way, I actually think that the traditional media likes having stories like this for a couple of reasons: 1) It gives them cover for not doing more real journalism about Iraq, the White House, etc.; and 2) it lends itself well to various doomsday scenarios ("Is this a harbinger of another Great Depression? News at six!") that they can't get called on.
Wall Street fell sharply Tuesday, joining a global stock decline sparked by growing concerns that the U.S. and Chinese economies are cooling and that U.S. stocks are about to embark on a major correction. The Dow Jones industrials dropped more than 180 points.
A 9 percent slide in Chinese stocks earlier set the tone for U.S. trading, a day after investors sent Shanghai's benchmark index to a record high close.
Investors' confidence has been knocked down by a slew of data showing that the economy may be decelerating more than anticipated. A Commerce Department report that orders for durable goods in January dropped by the largest amount in three months exacerbated jitters about the direction of the U.S. economy, which were raised a day earlier when former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the economy may be headed for a recession.
Bonddad analyzes it more closely.
While I agree that we should be jittery by how closely tied our economy is to China, it's frustrating to see how little we look at the root causes of that. Since we have gone from the biggest creditor to the biggest debtor nation, what will happen if the Asian market continues its instability?
