# data[].attributes.body
In this article, it talks about water as a commodity, and talks about how there is not an endless supply of fresh water on earth. An example of that is in Cape town, where there is an extreme water crisis and is taking a toll on daily life there.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Last summer, Cape Town's water crisis reached its latest peak. People in the drought-stricken city had to live with stringent water consumption restrictions as the city seemed to run dry. The fear of "Day Zero", the time when people eventually have to queue to receive a daily ration of the scarce resource, is continuously rising. Cape Town is not the only city struggling with its water supply. Nowadays, most of the world's population is living in water-scarce regions and if current trends are continuing, cities such as Istanbul, Jakarta, Beijing, Melbourne, Tokyo and London will face their own Day Zero in the upcoming decades.

Water, one of our most basic yet widely-used resources, is threatened to run out.

Water, one of our most basic yet widely-used resources, is threatened to run out. To understand why it is necessary to dig deeper and investigate geographical as well as economic causes. While the surface of our often so-called 'blue-planet' is essentially covered by 71 percent water, only less than one percent of that water is readily available and fresh. The situation is exacerbated by the tremendous and inefficient water usage in many industries and agriculture worldwide. Two of the most prominent examples are the food and the clothing industry. According to The Guardian, to produce one kilogram of meat it takes more than 15,000 litres of waters, while the production of a T-shirt requires up to 2,700 litres. In addition to that, water is commonly under-priced and treated as being indefinitely accessible. As predicted by the tragedy of the commons, an economic theory which suggests that individuals are often using common resources in a self-interested manner as opposed to what is best for everyone, water is simply not used effectively. Those are only a few of the many reasons that explain why the vital resource has become increasingly scarce over the past years - a development which is likely to continue.

This has led the investment bank Goldman Sachs to coin water as "the petroleum of the future"

As dangerous as this is for our future, it offers considerable opportunities for investors and indicates a shift in the world of commodity investing. As the world's most basic yet crucial resource is threatened to perish, it draws an increasing amount of money from asset managers. Like with any commodity, if supply is scarce its value goes up. This has led the investment bank Goldman Sachs to coin water as "the petroleum of the future", only further emphasizing the resource's growing importance.

While it should be noted that water is not a traded asset like oil, mainly because it is often regulated publicly and on a local scale, there still exists a diverse set of opportunities to benefit from water-related investments. For example, one can invest in one of the many water exchange-traded funds that have recently emerged, such as for example Invesco Water Resources ETF. The ETF is giving investors access to water-related stocks and is managing over US$ 865 million in assets. Additionally, it is also possible to invest in water rights. This gives investors access to water sources and allows them to charge companies and governments to use them. Dr Michael Burry has found another way to make returns from investing in water. The investor who successfully predicted the housing bubble in the 2008 financial crisis is now focusing most of his investments on water and is heavily investing in farmland with access to the scarce commodity. Finally, one can simply invest in water stocks such as for example American Water Works Company (AWK) or Aqua America (WTR) who are making returns on selling water to public utilities. Regardless of the option chosen, investing in water is undeniably becoming increasingly popular as it gives access to an untapped market with promising growth opportunities.

As dangerous as this is for our future, it offers considerable opportunities for investors and indicates a shift in the world of commodity investing.

While people worrying about ethical aspects of investing might question whether benefiting from an upcoming humanitarian crisis is the best way to make money, some people argue that privatizing the water sector could actually offer a solution to the global water scarcity. With an investment gap of more than US$ 1 trillion only in the US (according to the American Water Works Association), the sector is in dire need of capital. Private investments could provide the needed money to manage the resource and help to allocate it more effectively, as the competitive forces of the market tend to shift the use of resources to places where it is most profitable.

Cape Town's 'Day Zero' has now been pushed to 2019 as it started to rain, and South African's dams eventually filled up. However, while the crisis was postponed it is far from being solved. Water is perhaps the most vital resource needed globally, sustaining the existence of all different forms of life. Its increasing scarcity will undoubtedly continue to guide discussions in the sphere of economics, politics as well as finance. Therefore, investors should closely follow the developments related to the resource and search for profitable investment opportunities as water could ultimately arise as the commodity of the 21 st century.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Water - The Commodity of the 21st Century?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Last summer, Cape Town's water crisis reached its latest peak. People in the drought-stricken city had to live with stringent water consumption restrictions as the city seemed to run dry. The fear of "Day Zero", the time when people eventually have to queue to receive a daily ration of the scarce resource, is continuously rising.

# data[].attributes.body
Sand is the 2nd largest used natural resource in the world behind water. In this article, it talks about how it is used. It also touches on how it is used illegally and the harmful effects of the victims of this smuggling. In the UAE, they import millions of tons of sand from Australia mainly for infrastructure projects.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Recently, Risk Magazine has covered environmental topics and connected these topics to financial markets. Last week's article ( Water - The Commodity of the 21st Century?) was about water as a commodity. Two weeks ago, Risk Magazine dealt with difficulties connected to solar energy investment ( Sustainable Investing: Why Is It So Unattractive to Invest in Solar Energy?). This week's article is about sand, a scarce commodity hardly ever in the center of public debates.

Sand is the second most used natural resource behind water.

Sand is the second most used natural resource behind water. It is of high importance in the construction industry. As urbanization spreads around the world, more construction material is needed to build infrastructure in urban areas. The AT Kearney Global Business Policy Council's Year-Ahead Predictions 2019 state, "Two-thirds of construction material is concrete, which itself is composed of two-thirds sand." But not only the construction industry is heavily depended on a steady sand supply, also the fracking process needs plenty of sand in order to extract oil or gas. Therefore, the Business Insider argues that sand will become the commodity of the 21 st century and shape it similarly to oil in the 20 th century.

Usually, sand is supplied from local sources as transportation costs make up to 70 percent of the total costs in international sand trade. However, recently, some countries have had to import the commodity to meet their domestic demands. Famously, the United Arab Emirates import tons of sand from Australia to complete their infrastructure projects. Qatar's sand imports amount to $ 6 billion every year. Also, Vietnam expects to run out of sand in 2020 and then become a sand importer. This sand scarcities in certain regions lead to increases in sand prices all over the world. In India, the scarcity has led to a 100 to 150 percent increase in sand prices in two years. Cement and concrete prices rose nearly 70 percent in the last 14 years in the US. Especially in emerging markets, where the urbanization has galloped over the last years, higher prices put pressure on construction companies. The increasing prices also have drawn attention from criminal groups, the so-called sand mafia. They illegally mine sand on beaches, islands, and riverbeds and then sell it on the black market.

Moreover, the (illegal) mining or sand leads to various environmental issues. Firstly, natural habitats for endangered animals and plants are destroyed. Secondly, Floods are worse when sand has been removed in the area. Thirdly, standing water pools created by extracting sand contribute to the spread of Malaria and other diseases. These consequences can be described as "tragedy of the commons". As sand is mainly unregulated, operators tend to go for maximum profits without taking external effects or their exploitation into account. Therefore, scientists argue that the sand extraction must be monitored closely. Environmental groups, like Greenpeace, argue that regulations have to be drafted and enforced. This could lead to more environmental stability. Furthermore, it would allow for more stable economic development. However, until now, there have been hardly any actions to regulate the sky-rocketing sand mining activities and its consequences.

It is more promising to invest in companies that produce sand or are part of the sand supply chain, e.g. cement or fracking sand producers.

Investing in Sand

Investing in sand is not as easy as investing in other commodities. Even though, in total, between 15 to 20 tonnes of sand are used world-wide every year, there are hardly any investing options for sand. Other commodities are traded globally using future contracts and other financial instruments. The lack of a global sand market is due to its high weight compared to its cost which makes moving and failing rather expensive. Therefore, in order to benefit from sand as a commodity, it is more promising to invest in companies that produce sand or are part of the sand supply chain, eg cement or fracking sand producers. Possible investments in this field might be US Silica Holdings, Vulcan Materials Company, Martin Marietta Materials, Fairmount Santrol Holdings, and Cemex.

As outlined above, sand has a record of rising prices around the globe. Also, as urbanization is predicted to be a major trend of this century, demand will rise in the next years even more. Additionally, substitutes for sand are in general more expensive than sand and thus, sand seems to be a secure investment. However, there is the threat that regulators might draft stricter rules on extraction or sand which might then lead to higher production costs. All in all, sand has the potential to become the commodity of the 21 st century. However, as of now, investors have to be more creative if they want to invest in sand as a commodity. Also, it is a questionable whether there will be a global sand market like other commodities' markets. These days, sand is simply too heavy to be transported for a reasonable price.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sand - The Commodity of the 21st Century?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Recently, Risk Magazine has covered environmental topics and connected these topics to financial markets. Last week's article ( Water - The Commodity of the 21st Century?) was about water as a commodity. Two weeks ago, Risk Magazine dealt with difficulties connected to solar energy investment ( Sustainable Investing: Why Is It So Unattractive to Invest in Solar Energy?).

# data[].attributes.body
In this video, it shows an example of de-fetishizing the product, in this scenario the tea industry. Many girls are trafficked and sold into slavery to eventually work on tea farms in India. This also is known to happen in Sri Lanka as well as Kenya.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
CNN Freedom Project: Trafficking in the Tea Industry

# data[].attributes.body
There is also a commodity chain for waste, as well. This article talks about how the declining demand for metal is resulting in the lower price for recycled metal. This could have a negative impact on the recycling industries profit and decrease their emphasis on encouraging people to recycle.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sims warns of effect of falling metals prices

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The company says declining ferrous and nonferrous scrap prices will affect its fiscal 2020 first-half earnings.

# data[].attributes.body
Another struggle of the pandemic, farmers don't have anywhere to store their milk that is in surplus due to closed restaurants and stores. It is revealing the current state of the economy, which is extremely un-flexible. The Wisconsin farmer mentioned in the video can't sell his milk to grocery stores because he doesn't have the correct packaging, which is half the battle.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How coronavirus is disrupting food supply chain in US

# data[].attributes.location_name
The Ohio State University, West Lane Avenue, Columbus, OH, USA

# data[].attributes.headline
The Ohio State University, West Lane Avenue, Columbus, OH, USA

# data[].attributes.subject
The Ohio State University, West Lane Avenue, Columbus, OH, USA

# data[].attributes.body
This graphic explains in detail all of the sources, destinations, and everything in between of the crude oil commodity chain.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The crude oil commodity chain is critical to the creation of all sorts of products, from gasoline to asphalt to crayons to plastic. There is an infograph above, but here is a quick rundown of our site's explanation of the commodity chain and the questions that each page answers:

Geological Exploration & Discovery: how do we find oil?

Drilling & Extraction: how do we get oil?

Refinement: how do we make oil?

Transportation: how do we get the product to our cars?

Sale: how are our gas prices set?

Release: what happens to the oil after we use it?

Because crude oil is used to make thousands of products, we focused our project on a specific outcome of the oil commodity chain: gasoline-something we all use every day! Ideally, the links to our six steps will give you a better idea (in laymen's terms) of how oil is found, extracted, refined, transported, bought and sold, and released into the environment, as well as giving you a better idea of the impacts that this chain has on our environment and us as human beings.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The crude oil commodity chain is critical to the creation of all sorts of products, from gasoline to asphalt to crayons to plastic. There is an infograph above, but here is a quick rundown of our site's explanation of the commodity chain and the questions that each page answers: Geological Exploration & Discovery: how do we find oil?

# data[].attributes.body
In this example of a commodity chain, Tim Hortons is having to raise prices on their coffee due to a drought in Brazil, where they get their coffee beans. An event at one end of any commodity chain has an effect on the destination of the commodity, in this case, coffee beans.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Canadian coffee prices may increase due to drought in Brazil

# data[].attributes.body
This YouTube video talks about the history of the Soybean Commodity chain, a crop with a multitude of uses, and it's global influence today. Since then, The US has become the largest soybean producer, with Brazil in a close second.

# data[].attributes.body
This article is about the commodity chain of the papaya, and defetishizing it. It goes into how it effects the farmers who grow it, the history of those plantations, and how it is viewed differently around different parts of the world.

# data[].attributes.body
This podcasts talks about the effect of the Coronavirus on the potato industry. People are buying far less potatoes, resulting in a surplus, which were given out to people who needed them for free in this scenario.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
subscribe to The Indicator from Planet Money podcast

subscribe to The Indicator from Planet Money podcast

Coronavirus lockdowns have thrown the United States' agriculture supply chain into disarray. Supermarkets and grocery stores can't get enough food to stock their shelves, and food banks have been besieged by people who've been laid off or furloughed.

There's plenty of consumer demand for produce. And there's plenty of supply: the collapse of the restaurant business means that farmers' biggest customers are no longer asking for as much food as they used to. So why aren't the shelves at supermarkets and food banks laden with produce? And why is it that farmers are pouring away milk, crushing eggs, burying fruit and vegetables and giving away potatoes?

Turns out, it's all about packaging.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Great Potato Giveaway : The Indicator from Planet Money

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
subscribe to The Indicator from Planet Money podcast subscribe to The Indicator from Planet Money podcast Coronavirus lockdowns have thrown the United States' agriculture supply chain into disarray. Supermarkets and grocery stores can't get enough food to stock their shelves, and food banks have been besieged by people who've been laid off or furloughed.

# data[].attributes.body
This article talks about the effects of the coronavirus on food supply chains. It talks about how there is plenty of food for Americans and to fill grocery stores, but there is a major threat to the laborers who get the food to grocery stores and onto your plates.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Are we going to run out of food? That primal question seemed to be on the minds of many Americans when the gravity of the coronavirus pandemic first became clear. As society went into lockdown, millions rushed to grocery stores to stock up on whatever they could buy. Toilet paper was the earliest and most high-profile victim. But people turned their eyes to the food section as well, clearing out shelves of whatever might be deemed useful in an apocalypse.

If the sight of empty shelves at some grocery stores today gives you a sense of foreboding, you can probably rest assured - for now at least. A shortage of food supplies in the U.S. is unlikely in the foreseeable future. The local shortages that people have seen so far have been the result of supply chains thrown into confusion by a rapid change in consumption patterns. Although there could be price fluctuations of certain products, the U.S. still produces more than enough food to provide for its needs. The pandemic is not going to change that.

"There weren't proper procedures to protect the people doing the work: produce workers, warehouse employees, transport workers, and store employees."

Covid-19, however, is a threat to those people whose invisible labor we rely on: the underpaid, overexploited workers who harvest, transport, and stock the food that keeps society functioning.

"The worry in the food supply chain was always about activities that were labor intensive," said Ananth Iyer, a professor of operations management at Purdue University, "and where there weren't proper procedures to protect the people doing the work: produce workers, warehouse employees, transport workers, and store employees."

While most of the U.S. shelters at home, these essential workers have not been doing well. In the past several weeks, grocery store workers and farm laborers have started contracting and dying from Covid-19 in increasing numbers. In some places, the disease is already pushing people to a breaking point. This week, a massive meat-processing plant in Minnesota became the latest to shut down after a Covid-19 outbreak among workers. Many employers have continued pressing employees to work in unsafe and exploitative conditions, raising the possibility of more illnesses and shutdowns to come.

The economic impact of the pandemic is likely to land hard on these workers when the pandemic ends. Shifting consumption patterns means that industries maniacally focused on efficiency will likely slash employment levels. Among the victims could also be food service workers - presently frozen out of jobs amid the shutdown - who could return to an economy where far fewer people are willing to venture outside to eat.

"It's estimated that in the United States, 50 to 55 percent of food consumption normally takes place outside the home, at restaurants, fast food outlets, and entertainment venues," added Iyer. "All of a sudden, that came to a complete halt and now the question is whether we will even go back to that. If we don't, there will be serious adjustments in the restaurant industry affecting the millions of people who work there."

As is so often the case, a socioeconomic crisis is offering the chance for people with political power to push through policies that they'd quietly dreamed of implementing. The present turmoil in the food supply chain is no different: In the wake of the pandemic, the agricultural industry looks ready to place the burden onto its most exploited workers by cutting the wages of migrant farm laborers. In this, they have a willing ally in the White House. In the name of supporting farmers, the Trump administration is proposing a new "wage relief" program to allow agricultural firms to cut migrant workers' salaries to save money during the pandemic.

The proposal has gone largely under the radar while the country reels from news of Covid-19 deaths and job losses. But it may have serious consequences for what American society looks like when people eventually emerge from quarantine.

"At the moment the agriculture industry recognizes that the social turmoil caused by the pandemic has created something like a fog of war, in which they can press for lots of things that society normally would have no tolerance for," said Ricardo Salvador, director of the food and environment Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists and an expert at the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems, which recently published a communique on the crisis. "It's a basic principle of economics that if you successfully cut wages at the lowest rung of the economy, it is going to have a ripple effect up through the blue-collar range. To put it another way, if you depress the wages for the poorest people, you depress wages for everyone."

"The pandemic is exposing the big lie of industrial agriculture and its claim that this is the only way to feed the world."

Major cities in the U.S. have seen staggering queues in front of food banks, while at the same time, farmers are destroying excess produce, meat, and dairy in other parts of the country. The shock of the pandemic has suddenly made visible the massive inefficiency and waste that takes place in a highly centralized industrial food system.

At the same time, some experts say that it is also showing what does work: local networks of farms that are biodiverse and don't run the risk of crashing all at once when something goes wrong.

"We're seeing horror stories of farmers throwing milk away and food being destroyed in fields," said Raj Patel, a research professor at the University of Texas and author of "Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System." "But the reality is that these stories are all coming out of industrial supply chains. Farmers who are part of local networks are not throwing away food; in fact, they are rushing to keep up with demand."

Patel went on, "The pandemic is exposing the big lie of industrial agriculture and its claim that this is the only way to feed the world. When one big supply chain runs everything, the entire system becomes fragile. The reality is that smaller and more diverse networks of agriculture are the most resilient."

We're not going to run out of food as a result of Covid-19, even though millions could be impoverished to the point where proper nourishment becomes difficult to access. Nonetheless, even the shoppers with money today to clear out grocery shelves might be in trouble in the future absent serious agricultural reforms.

"It is important we recognize sooner than later how fragile our food supply system is," warned Patel. "Because, as climate trends suggest, this will not be the first crisis we face."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Food Supply Chain Not Yet in Danger - But Its Workers Are

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Are we going to run out of food? That primal question seemed to be on the minds of many Americans when the gravity of the coronavirus pandemic first became clear. As society went into lockdown, millions rushed to grocery stores to stock up on whatever they could buy.

# data[].attributes.body
This is a series of videos following the production of T-shirts. Starting in Texas, going to Columbia to be put through machines, to here in Bangladesh to be stitched, and then shipped in large containers to wherever it will be sold.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
How We Did This

Why A T-Shirt?

We wanted to see the hidden world behind clothes sold in this country, so we decided to make a T-shirt. We wanted to make an ordinary shirt like the vast majority of the shirts sold in this country - not organic cotton, not hand-sewn in the United States.

To figure out how many shirts to make, and to raise money to pay for them, we turned to Kickstarter. Our goal was to sell 2,000 shirts. In the end, we sold 25,000.

(Thanks again to everyone who ordered a shirt. Really. Amazing. We couldn't have done it without you!)

Why A Squirrel?

The design on the shirt, a squirrel hoisting a martini glass, is a visual pun: a reference to the phrase "animal spirits" made famous by the economist John Maynard Keynes.

As Planet Money's David Kestenbaum put it recently: "Keynes' idea was that there's more to the markets than just numbers; there are people and emotions making decisions. And to the extent that we are finding the human element in the very dry subject of economics, it's actually perfect for us."

10 Reporters, 3 Continents, 1 Archipelago

We flew drones over Mississippi. We got mugged in Chittagong, Bangladesh. We met people whom we'll never forget - the actual people who make our clothing. At every location we had radio reporters and videographers.

More T-Shirt Stories!

Good news: We have more T-shirt stories than we could fit on this site.

For more, subscribe to the Planet Money podcast.

A Little Help From Our Friends

Adam Davidson, Planet Money co-founder, came up with the idea of doing this project in the first place more than three years ago.

We were inspired a lot by a book: The Travels Of A T-shirt In The Global Economy. In fact, we hired the author, Pietra Rivoli, to be an adviser on the project. She's a professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.

Bawen, Indonesia: Jess Jiang faces the classic producer's dilemma: One machine tells a story. A thousand create a racket.

After several years of trying and failing to make a T-shirt from scratch, we finally found some help from Jockey Corp. Marion Smith, the director of global sourcing for Jockey, was patient with us on the phone. (T-shirts are knitted, not woven. They're made from something that looks like thread but is called yarn.) Eventually, Jockey agreed to sell us T-shirts - and, more important, to let us follow the creation of those shirts.

The Planet Money T-shirts are made of fabric that Jockey's textile experts developed. They're based on a design pattern Jockey uses for its own T-shirt line. Jockey introduced us to its suppliers in Bangladesh and Colombia, and those suppliers agreed to assemble our shirts. And Jockey designers helped us pick out the colors for our shirts.

Credits

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Alex Blumberg

PROJECT ADVISER: Pietra Rivoli/McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University

MANAGING PRODUCERS: Kainaz Amaria, Brian Boyer and Joshua Davis

PLANET MONEY: Quoctrung Bui, Zoe Chace, Jacob Goldstein, Jess Jiang, Caitlin Kenney, David Kestenbaum, Marianne McCune and Robert Smith

VIDEO DIRECTOR: Joshua Davis

MULTIMEDIA PRODUCERS: Kainaz Amaria, Joshua Davis, and Claire O'Neill

PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEO: Kainaz Amaria, Nacho Corbella, Joshua Davis, David Gilkey, Eric Helton, James Jensen, Soren Jensen, Katie Hayes Luke and David Nevala

DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT: Jeremy Bowers, Danny DeBelius, Alyson Hurt and Wes Lindamood ( Source code on GitHub)

WRITER: Jacob Goldstein

COPY EDITING: Janey Adams, Stephanie Federico, Avie Schneider and Susan Vavrick

ADDITIONAL PRODUCTION: Phia Bennin, Anirvan Ghosh, Frank Hernandez, Seth Maxon, Melissa Melvin-Rodriguez, Molly Messick, Eileen Mignoni, Urmila Ramakrishnan, Tiffany Salone and Alejandra Vengoechea

MOTION GRAPHICS: Suzanne Batmanghelichi and Adam Cole

SOUND EDITING: Drew Kennedy

LEGAL: Ashley Messenger and Brian Rideout

T-SHIRT ILLUSTRATOR: Bob Bianchini

ARCHIVAL VIDEO: AP Archive, U.S. Department of Agriculture ( via archive.org)

MUSIC:
"The Journey," "Goldengrove v2," "Wallflower" (Keith Kenniff/Unseen Music)
"Fire Ignorance," "Anthem" (Tyler Strickland)
"Club Coolada" (Cream Dream/Crash Symbols)
"Shade of Music" (Elias Music Library/Getty Music Library)
"B&G's" (Bela R. Balogh and Gabe Leavitt/3 Leg Torso)
"Stay Golden" (Au Revoir Simone/Moshi Moshi Records)
"Mirrors" (Crocodiles/Fat Possum Records)

SPECIAL THANKS: Coburn Dukehart; Jeffrey Silberman/Fashion Institute of Technology
Published December 2, 2013
This site is a product/service of NPR. Use is governed by NPR's terms of use and privacy policy.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The world behind a simple shirt, in five chapters.