Every American who lived through the 1970s remembers that energy price controls lead to inefficient use patterns and large losses to industry. Unfortunately, the Chinese have not learned this American lesson despite large amounts of industrial espionnage within the U.S. over the past 20 years or so.

The Chinese are wild gamblers! We all know that! When it comes to gold, however, they seem risk averse. Gold futures were introduced on Shanghai’s Futures Exchange in January. They were only the second product – after zinc – on this new market.