Saints, sinners and summits

THE FINANCIAL TIMES today editorializes about what would have been the big news of the week: the encounter between Chinese leader Hu Jintao and President Bush, which was postponed in the aftermath of Katrina. The paper says the meeting shouldn’t be put off too long. In economic terms, the two countries have become increasingly interdependent. But in terms of promoting human rights in China, the editorial laments that Washington “has lost moral authority to preach this message” because of its conduct in the war on terror.

With regard to Katrina, an editorial in today’s New York Times ridicules President Bush’s pledge to lead an inquiry into what went wrong in the government’s response to the hurricane.

The Wall Street Journal provocatively editorializes today in defense of price gouging as a “price system that matches supply with demand.” The logic is compelling Econ 101, but it overlooks some of the manipulating of supplies typically engaged in by “gougers.” The Journal is right, however, to assail the move by some governors to suspend gas taxes.

And with the National Football League season opening this week, an editorial Monday in the Times-Picayune of New Orleans urged the Saints not to leave the city. “People who were helpless to get out of the way of the storm died in our beloved Superdome,” and its rebuilding will be important. The editorial then states: “Before Katrina, Saints fans wanted their team to stay. Now they need it to stay.” The team faces a nomadic season, but is any city in America going to want to steal the franchise for the longer term? Doubtful.

Andres Martinez