China’s stock market collapse and this week’s multiple currency depreciations are big news — and rightly so. But much of what has been written on the topic has been largely descriptive rather than diagnostic.

The recent volatility on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges and the Chinese state’s currency devaluation are symptoms of important changes in China’s underlying economy, and thus warrant careful consideration.

The Chinese state’s move to restrain the growth of the stock market bubble in June and its subsequent maneuver to reinflate it shortly thereafter were both attempt to manage the symptoms of growing economic instability, but neither addressed its underlying causes.