Sinking Confidence Behind Market Collapse

What's behind the market meltdown? Some on-the-fly observations:

• Ezra Klein, Washington Post: The market is "diving because of forces Washington can’t control, and in many cases, doesn’t understand very well. How many members of Congress do you think could give a coherent account of what has happened to oil or steel prices over the last three years? Or what’s happening in the Eurozone? Or to the yuan?" Nobody knows where the recovery will come from, and the markets are reflecting that panic.

• Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch: Hmm, Tim Geithner stays and the markets tank. "Of course, that is very unfair to Geithner, but there’s a kernel of truth to it. It’s not simply that the US economy is in danger of falling back into recession ... or that the euro-zone debt situation threatens to spiral out of control. It’s that there is a lack of confidence globally that these problems can be addressed by policy makers."
• Paul Krugman, New York Times: Yeah, stocks are bad, but the bond markets tell the real tale. "The US 10-year bond rate is now down to 2.5%. So much for those bond vigilantes. What this rate is saying is that markets are pricing in terrible economic performance, quite possibly a double dip. And it also says that Washington’s deficit obsession has been utterly, totally wrong-headed."

(More stock market stories.)