Oil states and China are now buying agricultural land across poorer continents. It is a sign of the times: recent pricing of rice and sugar on world markets will convince others to follow the lead. I remember when gold ran up to 800 dollars, only to retreat to 200, and stay there for a decade. Mugabe banana dollars may not fetch you a berry, but things are a little different at the US Mint. If their 'virtual' currency is a wear-proof plastic card that thirty million citizens use to take home an average of a hundred and forty dollars worth of free groceries, every month, then perhaps there is more that meets the eye than just the old Freemason 'eye' emblem that sneaky Jefferson placed in US bank notes. So even as one is wary of US pennies - now Montreal Alcan aluminum, not copper - exporters to the US face limited options when it comes to cashing in on their good fortunes. Perhaps Merv would broker to India a few counties in Alabama and Arkansas rice country, and throw in a bonus Ontario vineyard! eric.
