Asian and European stock markets fell again Friday, causing world markets to have their worst month in history. The month October was truly a horrendous month in history, with markets worldwide collapsing. Then again, many believe that the stock markets would have fallen deeper if governments would not have bailed out banks and other financial institutions in trouble.

The Japanese stock market continued to fall despite the country’s central bank’s decision to cut interest rates by 20 basis points, to 0.3%.

Japan’s central bank followed the American Federal Reserve, which cut interest rates to a mere 1% in an attempt to encourage investments.

Investors, however, fear that the rate cuts will not be enough to undo the damage to companies by the larger economic crisis.

As a result, especially the prices of oil fell Friday, this also despite an announced production cut by OPEC last week.

Adam Cole, global head of currency strategy at RBS Capital Markets told news agency Reuters: “Volatility is the watchword today. The usual risk aversion plays will also come into play given losses in Asian shares.”

World economies are likely to continue to suffer, despite big government bailouts. Several European countries are already in a recession or are on the brink of the one. The U.S. reported a shrinkage of the economy in the third quarter of this year as well. If this is followed by yet another bad quarter, the U.S. too will be in a recession.

The next U.S. president is likely to inherit a weak economy, making Americans’ choice all the more important.