GMO’s Jeremy Grantham’s quarterly letter is and embedded below. The crux of the piece is a focus on Malthusian outcomes as too many people in the globe evade stark poverty. An oft cited quote is that if all 7 billion people on the globe lived like Americans (5% of the population), we’d need 4 Earth’s to sustain the consumption. Of course as we go forward technology advancements will be made, but Grantham says to expect a world of resource shortages and price increases. Which is part of the reason China is running around the world offering financial assistance to countries rich in resources (many in Africa) to help build their infrastructure, in return for access to their commodity base.
Exhibit 3 in the piece is a great example of how China has become the main game in town in commodities demand. For example, China’s share in world commodity consumption is as follows:
| Cement: 53% | Aluminum: 41% | Coal: 47% | Eggs 37% |
| Iron Ore: 48% | Copper: 38% | Steel: 45% |
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