China's economic mandarins are proving to be human after all

Recent attempts to fine-tune the economy, devalue the yuan or cool the stock market have proved ham-fisted and misguided

The economic wizards of Beijing have feet of clay after all. That's the growing sense after China's currency fell for a third day and the deputy governor of its central bank was forced to hold a press conference at which he insisted this was all part of a grand plan.

Zhang Xiaohui didn't quite say "devaluation, what devaluation?" just as Jim Callaghan never quite said "crisis, what crisis?" during the Winter of Discontent. Both men were intent on showing that their governments were fully in control even though they were not. For UK politicians in the 1970s this was a familiar sensation; for China's mandarins it is an entirely new experience.

Related: China plays down devaluation fears as yuan cut for third straight day