Market sirens lead China astray

CHINA'S pledges to prop up the stock market are unwise. It didn't have to be this way - if only the country's authorities had been able to resist the lure of inflating asset prices. That's a challenge few governments have met.

After the benchmark Shanghai Composite index fell 8.5 per cent on July 27, the main stock regulator announced it would continue to support the market. Such twitchiness is astonishing. Dark talk…