by Dambisa Moyo
First published 2012
Commodities shape every part of daily life, yet most people outside economics and trading circles remain ignorant of how these markets function. Headlines constantly warn of looming crises involving farmland shortages, water conflicts, and political battles over fossil fuels as global demand exceeds supply. The situation looks grim, but our understanding of commodity market details and major shifts stays unclear. Moyo examines the commodity forces the world will confront in coming decades. She focuses specifically on China's massive resource acquisition campaign spanning all global regions. China's pursuit of hard commodities like metals and minerals plus soft commodities including timber and food ranks among history's largest operations. China follows a well-established pattern. Britain conducted transcontinental resource operations from the late 1500s onward. European and American corporations expanded globally between the 1860s and 1870s as industrial revolution demands for raw materials forced them beyond home borders. China's resource campaign, though still early, already shows remarkable scope and appears unstoppable. This represents China's effort to secure resource assets and guarantee input flows needed for continued economic development. Moyo uses her commodities market expertise to explain what China's resource acquisition means in a world where resources grow scarce.
Genres: business, politics, economics, non-fiction, 21st-century, academic
Vibes: thought-provoking
Tropes: investigative-journalism
Setting: China
Period: 21st-century
272 pages · Hardcover · Basic Books