The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens

Material World: The Key Resources Underpinning Modern Economies with Ed Conway

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Jun 12, 2024

Economics journalist Ed Conway discusses the importance of six essential materials in modern economies - sand, salt, iron, copper, oil, and lithium. The conversation explores the environmental costs of extracting these resources and the fragile global supply chains they support. The podcast dives into the complexities of resource scarcity, energy consumption, and the challenges of maintaining sustainable production in an interconnected world.

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ANECDOTE

WWI Glass Famine

In World War I, the UK faced a glass famine, jeopardizing their military capabilities due to reliance on German optics.
This shortage forced them to resort to desperate measures, including trading rubber for binoculars with the enemy.

INSIGHT

Sand Sources

The beautiful white sand found on Caribbean beaches is primarily composed of parrotfish excrement.
While abundant, industrial-grade sand is often located in environmentally sensitive areas like rivers, creating extraction challenges.

INSIGHT

Concrete Mysteries

The chemical process of cement setting remains a scientific mystery, even today.
Concrete structures absorb CO2 over time, although the overall production process emits far more.

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(Conversation recorded on May 7th, 2024)

Show Summary:

In contrast to ‘The Great Simplification’, some might call the events of the last few hundred years a ‘Great Complexification’ in terms of relationships, governance, supply chains, and many other human activities. Today’s conversation with economics journalist Ed Conway focuses on the six essential resources that underpin our modern economies – sand, salt, iron, copper, oil, and lithium - and dives into the (often unseen) environmental and human costs of extracting them, as well as the surprisingly fragile global supply chains they fuel.

In order to understand what possibilities – and dangers – may await us in the future, we need to understand the realities and constraints of the present, as well as the fail points of the past. What does it take to mine, refine, and transform the materials that are foundational to the world around us - which many of us now take for granted? How can we ensure the stability of global supply chains, and could we predict potential disruptions and chokepoints before they arise? If we understood the intricate web of complexity, energy, and resources that go into everything we consume, would it change our expectations for how much we need in order to live a good and fulfilling life?

About Ed Conway:

Ed Conway is a writer and broadcaster. He is the Economics and Data Editor of Sky News and has written for many newspapers and publications, including the New York Times, the Times of London and the New Statesman. His latest book, Material World, was an Economist and Sunday Times Book of the Year and was shortlisted for the 2023 FT Business Book of the Year Award. He has also written two other critically acclaimed and bestselling books and has won numerous awards for his journalism. He was educated at Oxford and Harvard. He lives in London.

For Show Notes and More visit:

https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/127-ed-conway

To watch this video episode on Youtube → https://youtu.be/4C2-tWcFKfQ