IMF'd Up
The global economy dominates today. USA Today
leads with the Clinton administration's push for Japan to enact fiscal reforms
now. The Washington Post leads with the IMF-World Bank $22 billion
in loans to Russia, which also leads the national edition of the New York Times .
The metro edition of the Times puts Russia/loans in the off-lead and
goes instead with a jury's finding that Rev. Al Sharpton and two other Tawana
Brawley advisors defamed a New York assistant D.A. when they said on several
occasions 10 years ago that he kidnapped and raped Ms. Brawley. (The verdict
also makes the WP front.) The Los Angeles
Times pairs Russia/loans and Japan/reforms together in the lead
spot.
According to USAT , the White House is urging Japan to undertake tax
cuts and banking reforms, and to open up its domestic markets to more foreign
competition. The U.S. had been counting on Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto to
do these things, but as a result of his party's severe election losses, he
resigned Monday. The LAT 's headline indicates doubts any new government
will be any more capable of swift reform, but what the headline giveth, the
subhead taketh away: ".but others say losses may jolt party into action." The
Wall Street Journal back-of-the-front-section
"Politics and Policy" piece also worries that the post-Hashimoto period may not
see much improvement.
Hashimoto will serve, say the papers, until a successor is chosen, probably
in a week or so. The NYT and LAT do take-outs on the leading
contenders. The LAT , perhaps reflecting a city loaded with Japanese
restaurants, describes the two most likely successors as respectively "spicy"
and "bland." The WP fronts an interesting survey of the Japanese
electorate's mood. One man seems to speak for many when he says his
anti-Hashimoto vote was a "wake-up call."
One question not answered in the coverage: Why does reform for Japan mean
cutting taxes and reform for Russia mean raising taxes?
The Times notes that the Sharpton jury will next proceed to deliberate about any damage award. The ex-D.A. is seeking $395
million, a sum the paper notes he may have trouble collecting even if awarded,
given that one of the Brawley advisors is a suspended lawyer, another is a
disbarred one, and Sharpton says he owns no home or other substantial property.
The WP story says that the former D.A. spent $320,000 bringing the
case.
Given all the press attention lavished on the Year 2000 bug, it's hard to
fathom that only USAT fronts Wall Street's Y2K test Monday. Twenty-nine
security firms and twelve exchanges began the first day of two weeks of
simulating what it would be like to run the markets as the nines turn over. The
test so far has excluded small securities firms and international markets, but
Day One was, says the paper, glitchless.
If you think conservative fiscal theorists are on drugs, the WP 's
front page is a reminder that you are at least sometimes right: It details how
Lawrence Kudlow , a former Reagan White House budget official and
economics writer for the National Review , is easing back into the policy
life three years after hitting bottom as a cocaine binger.
The Journal 's "Work Week" column reports that according to a survey
done by the Cross pen company, two-thirds of executives say e-mail has cut back
on their need for meetings. Nine out of ten say it has also reduced the need
for paperwork and has improved overall productivity. But nearly half the execs
say they still attend too many meetings. And 6 percent of them say that during
those meetings, they take notes to make it look as if they are listening--a
trend "Today's Papers" is quite sure the Cross pen company deeply deplores.
