Today's Lesson?

The two big news items today are : 1) the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and 2) the sharp decline in stock markets around the world.  The two are not particularly related.

The juxtaposition of these two events creates an interesting perspective.  While it is good news that Zarqawi is out of action, it is bad news that the stock markets around the world are struggling.  The thing is, the good news does not have any direct effect on the quality of life here in the USA, while the bad news does have a direct domestic effect.  How bad the negative effect will be remains to be seen.  I'm not arguing that the economic news is dire; rather, I am saying that this juxtaposition of events may highlight the relative importance of the two.  It is going to be hard for people to care about an incremental improvement in Iraq, when their own retirement funds are going in the tank.