Barack Obama’s failed domestic “economic recovery” policies, combined with the failed economic policies of one of our largest trade partners, the Red Chinese, led to a cascading collapse in the U.S. securities markets this week. For years, Chinese economic growth was a cornerstone of U.S. and world markets hopes for improvement. However, for the last two years, the failure of China’s communist central economic planning has become painfully apparent, concluding with China’s devaluation of its currency in mid-August. The consequences are significant for both the Chinese people and the rest of the world. Fraser Howie, who co-wrote a book about the Chinese economy, told The Wall Street Journal, “The world is starting to realize China is not nearly as competent as thought, especially in the economic sphere where everyone gave it good grades.” The China effect on U.S. security markets is widely felt by almost half of the country, as most American families have assets and retirement plans invested in securities. With the advent of individual online trading, the market drop is driven by consumers attempting to outsmart the decline. Unfortunately, those consumers, who often do not invest for the long term, as noted by Ron Lieber, will likely suffer the worst by trying to outsmart the markets.

(Revised.)