It's the economy, stupid

The gloves are off. Hillary Clinton has thrown her hat into the Olympic ring, urging President Bush to boycott the opening ceremony. She has also urged her two fellow contenders for the top job to do the same. C'mon, be a man, let's see who can trash China the hardest.

But Olympic lovers, don't lose heart. This is not about the Games, this is not about Tibet, actually this is not even about China. It's the economy, stupid - as the other Clinton's 1992 campaign slogan put it.

It is also unfortunate timing. Not that you can time the Olympics, but the Beijing Games coincide with a looming recession and the presidential election in the United States. As home foreclosures increase and the subprime mortgage virus spreads to other parts of the US economy, the resultant credit squeeze is kicking in. Some 80,000 jobs have been lost in March alone, the biggest drop in five years, following 63,000 job losses in February.