One of today’s top stories in the Financial Times of all places is that China is in quite some trouble over garlic. Garlic? It is among its top agricultural exports, but its local prices have gone up fifteen-fold since March because of a spreading belief that the pungent bulb can keep the swine flu away. Part of the trouble is that the craze is pulling up other food prices, too. Crazes of this sort hit all countries in the world, but it is a bit different when the country is the size of China. Only imagine more than a billion people craving garlic at any price! If the story spreads abroad, the craze may well turn into mayhem. God only knows, but the Chinese may be onto something.