Fortunately there is hope for consumers in the form of a market in mooncake derivatives.

ECONOMIST: One derivatives market still thrives

Mooncake coupons are often given out by companies to employees, to exchange for the real thing.

ECONOMIST: One derivatives market still thrives

Com (NYSE:SINA), gold-shaped mooncake discs are available at a shop in Shenyang, Liaoning province of Northeast China.

FORBES: An obscure indicator of the gold bubble?

But mooncake-makers, knowing where the profits are, have paid little heed.

ECONOMIST: One derivatives market still thrives

Should we remind investors what happen to gold prices in the 1990s when the Japanese economy slid to deflation, or should I wait to see how the gold-shaped mooncake disc sales fared during the Mid-Autumn festival?

FORBES: An obscure indicator of the gold bubble?