Share the View: The Attack on Charlie Hebdo

Share The View

THE LATEST OPINIONS FROM BLOOMBERG VIEW

JANUARY 8, 2015 bloombergview.com

PARIS ATTACK The Editors: The killing of several journalists at Charlie Hebdo and two police officers in Paris yesterday "cannot and should not be used to stoke hatred and prejudice against Muslims, or intolerance and fear about immigrants and immigration." Of the three suspects French authorities were reported to have identified late yesterday, "two were French (the third's nationality was not immediately clear). So even if France, whose population is about 7.5 percent Muslim (4 to 5 million people), were to block all immigration overnight, such an attack would be no more or less likely than it is now." Read more... Josh Rogin: "Two months ago, a group of French members of Islamic State put out a video calling on Muslims to conduct terror attacks on French soil and offering them direct operational support. ... Their calls were answered." Read more... Leonid Bershidsky: "Michel Houellebecq couldn't have foreseen such a horribly swift real-life sequel to his latest literary provocation, the novel 'Submission.'" Read more... Noah Feldman: "If indeed the Paris attack is the work of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the franchise that includes Yemen, then its purpose is almost certainly to regain public attention from Islamic State and remind the world, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, that the old jihadi terrorist paradigm is still effective." Read more... CHINA Jim O'Neill: "Halfway through a decade in which China set out to rebalance its economy, it is poised to drastically enlarge its role in the world. Let me explain why." Read more... William Pesek: "For Hong Kong's student protesters, 2015 is off to a dismal start. They'd hoped that months-long demonstrations would lead to greater openness and dialogue with the city's pro-China government. Now that he's cleared the streets, though, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying seems to have lost interest in talking." Read more... TECH Katie Benner: "There have been a lot of musings of late about whether or not Marissa Mayer is the right chief executive for Yahoo. ... Pick Mayer apart or build her up. Either way, the Yahoo tanker would be hard for anyone to turn around." Read more... ECONOMICS Megan McArdle: What makes rich people think they're middle class?Read more... POLITICS Ramesh Ponnuru: "Some evangelical Christian conservatives are trying to get their brethren to unite behind one Republican primary candidate in the 2016 presidential race. They're likely to fail -- and they'll probably be better off if they do." Read more... Margaret Carlson: "Everything you need to know about the state of the Republican presidential race is explained by the schedules of the first two candidates to publicly dip their toes into the 2016 waters." Read more... Jonathan Bernstein: The decision by the House leadership to kick two Florida congressmen off the Rules Committee is being called "revenge" and "retribution." "But the decision to remove the two is more about assuring Republican Party control of the House than it is about punishing renegades." Read more... Bernstein: "Here's some good news: Barack Obama's approval ratings are heading up again. ... It's good news for the political system." Read more... CARS Edward Niedermeyer: The most important car show is now CES. "Rather than trying to impress the auto industry with new automotive concepts, automakers are trying to make themselves relevant to the broader technology business." Read more... McArdle: "I'm running into more and more people here in Washington who are using UberX as a substitute for owning a car. ... If it works, this is going to be a game changer for urban dwellers, a taste of the utopian future when self-driving cars finally arrive. But to be honest, I find myself wondering if it is going to work." Read more...