What will produce a deep drop in the stock market? What will cause one manufacturer to go into bankruptcy while his competitor announces the largest profits ever? What changes the economic picture in a flash, disregarding the most learned opinions of the experts? And, why do girls wear nose rings?

You'll never guess the answer, so I'll give it to you: It's the teen-age daughters of Japan.

According to a recent story in the Los Angeles Times, these kids are the trend-setters of the world. Once they establish a hair style, a liking for one soft drink over another, a color of lipstick or a method of smearing it on, a favorite type of shoe, all competitors (the brands not chosen) might just as well go on vacation.

It may be through travel or the Internet; no matter how the teen- age network crosses oceans and national boundaries, within weeks after these teeny-boppers decide what it takes to be chic, a world-wide trend is underway. There's no use quoting the most recent fads, they'll probably change by the time you read this.

But think of what this does--and could do--to the global economy. Suppose teen-age girls in Japan decide that breakfast cereals are now out of style. They'll stop eating them. Pretty soon, farmers are stuck with all sorts of grains that are no longer wanted. Box manufacturers have to let employees go because of reduced need for their product. Advertising agencies reduce staffs, since budgets don't require all that heavy spending for box designs and advertising...

It keeps mushrooming. TV stations now must cut their budgets, which means fewer new programs, which puts the entertainment industry in a bind. More actors turn to becoming waiters, which in turn creates unemployment in the ranks of those who usually do the table-waiting.

Then the down-sized businesses and the unemployed want relief, which affects the government's plans for spending. Taxes go up, the stock market goes down, and the country--no, the world--is in deep trouble.

Is it possible that when the Good Book says, "A little child shall lead them," it was laughing at us?