Let’s calm down with our reaction to Japan disaster

Marketwatch.com columnist David Weidner asks that business journalists and pundits pontificating about the economic and financial impact of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami need to take a deep breath and realize what’s more important.

Weidner writes, “But in times of tragedy, the financial world needs to be more sensitive, at least in how it discusses tragedy. Comparing the loss of life in Japan to the debt markets or suggesting that a global food shortage is a good thing either shows how removed we’ve become or desensitizes us to the real hardships that people face.

“Economic machinations and tragic loss of life don’t belong in the same sentence, much less one that suggests the debt problem is somehow more important than the dead washing up on the beach in Sendai.

“What’s happening to victims in the Middle East, Japan and food-starved nations is worse than what’s happening to us at the pump or to the debt or commodities we hold.

“Nothing could be worse, really. But our reaction can make it worse.”

Read more here.