Edward over at Fistful of Euros has an excellent post which spins a terribly plausible case for a Chinese-driven resource-crunch from an article on a recent spate of manhole-cover theft in England. He notes that this theft is almost certainly driven by the recent doubling of the price for iron and steel scrap, due to the voracious Chinese demand for steel. He goes on to discuss the booming South American soya export market, and a decision by the German government to start experimenting with BT corn (maize). Edward truly is the reason I keep returning to Fistful. Great story.