Thanks to Helga from Fierce Earth for this tip off. Whilst on the bus, she was sitting behind a man reading the Financial Times and her gaze happened to fall on an article in his paper, about the dramatic rise in the price of garlic in China. It turns out that the wholesale price has risen fifteen fold since March due partly to less being grown because of the recession and also because of increased demand due to the belief that it can ward off swine flu. But as The Financial Times says

“But in a phenomenon with a whiff of the 17th-century Dutch tulip mania, when wealthy merchants used their life savings to buy single bulbs, another cause of the garlic bubble may be old-fashioned speculation.”

You can read the full article HERE

Craig