"I wouldn't go as far as to say that, but I think this does show that China is increasingly an important part of the world economy," says Dr. Walden, a professor of agricultural and resource economics. "I think many people knew that. But China does have some economic issues, and I think that was brought out in the big drop in their stock market.

"One of them is they have been rapidly increasing their money supply," Walden adds. "And what that has been doing is holding down the international value of their currency and allowing them to export more. Now that does have a downside, because when a country pushes their money supply up very rapidly that can lead to higher domestic inflation -- it can lead to speculation in their investment markets.

"And that's been a concern of many economists who watch the Chinese economy and the Chinese stock market: Are they getting into what we call a speculative bubble, which could burst and send their economy into a recession?

"So clearly China is important," he concludes. "They do bear watching, because missteps their could affect all of our financing."