The New Crop Of Choice

The markets work in mysterious ways, my friends. Con Coughlin reports at The Daily Telegraph's blog Three-Line Whip that in one part of Afghanistan's Helmand Province, crop substitution is succeeding for the time being. It's not due to a NATO crop substitution program to coerce farmers to grow another crop besides poppies.

For the time being, those Helmand farmers are foregoing poppies for wheat. Yes, wheat. Wheat prices have doubled in the last year thanks to increasing global demand, shifting planting patterns and southern hemisphere crop shortages.

This writer does not believe it will last, though. As anyone who invested in Enron, Worldcomm, Tyco or Bear Stearns learned, what the market giveth, the market taketh away. I'd say that goes triple for situations where there are addictions to meet, weapons to purchase and insurrection to wage.