The evidence that the global economy as a whole is grinding down continues to mount, with the latest exhibit being the data out of China over the weekend: exports are down, imports are down, inflation's higher than expected.

That's in the world's second-largest economy. In the world's third-largest economy, Japan on your scorecards, second-quarter growth was half of expectations. This comes on the heels of Friday's weak jobs report here in the world's largest economy, as well as all those weak manufacturing reports last week....