Map of the World's Resources: Nothing Under Europe's Soil

Mint.com has produced the below graph depicting the distribution of the world's most important resources (diamonds may not exactly fall into this category).

click to enlarge

From a European point of view, it is most disturbing that the old world does not show up in a single category, highlighting the sad fact that Europe will become the world's poorhouse. Europe has already begun to record current account deficits with the rest of the world and faces a lot of economic, political and financial difficulties that will certainly not improve as the near term flip-flop of the age pyramid will turn the continent into a geriatric residence.

Comments

[Jasper M:]

"highlighting the sad fact that Europe will become the world's poorhouse"
Yes, just like that other resource poor basket-case, Hong Kong.
Wait . . . no . . .

Europe will not become a poorhouse from lack of resources. They will do so from their distaste for economic freedoms.
As may the US.
Resources are No antidote for this sort of thing. How well off is the average Saudi?

Also, it Is a pretty graphic - but the units seem to be missing.

Jun 14 03:29 PM

[OilFinder:]

I suspect there probably are a lot more resources beneath European soil, but they aren't likely to exploit many of them for fear of ruining their quaint landscapes.

Jun 14 09:41 PM

[cameroni:]

I felt like I was going blind reading your chart but I got the point.

Who owns what in an unstable climate can be decisive. It just proves my point that the US (and all North America) can actually afford a massive dollar devaluation and still survive because the continent has the reserves in the ground and on the land to sustain itself come hell or high-water.

If we go broke we won't starve, we won't run out of energy and we won't really need anybodies help to bail us out. That's a lot of ammo.

Policies might suggest that this is where our arrogance comes from.

Jun 14 11:32 PM

[Shale Gas:]

I'm not sure where the web site got its data but there are shale plays in Europe that may be similar to ones in North America, although none are commercial at this time. They are:

Alum Shale (Cambrian) – Sweden
Namurian marine Shales – Holland, Germany.
Posidonia Shale (Lower Jurassic) - Holland, Germany.

There is also the Paris Basin Oil Shale, which you guessed it, is in France. Please see these articles for reference:

www.nytimes.com/2008/0...

www.gfz-potsdam.de/portal/-?$part=binary-conten...

Jun 15 06:58 AM

[Shale Gas:]

www.gfz-potsdam.de/portal/-?$part=binary content&id=2022464...

Jun 15 06:59 AM

[Shale Gas:]

The URL above is not displaying correctly. If you go to Google and type in "GASH is an interdisciplinary Gas Shale research" it will be the first result.

Jun 15 07:01 AM

[Shale Gas:]

Also, there are several public companies working on these resources:

www.3legsresources.com...

Toreador Resources also

phx.corporate-ir.net/p...=

and Royal Dutch Shell.

Jun 15 07:05 AM

[Shale Gas:]

Jasper M...you hit on it correctly. There is also the concept called Dutch Disease:

www.investopedia.com/t...


On Jun 14 03:29 PM Jasper M wrote:

> "highlighting the sad fact that Europe will become the world's poorhouse"
>
> Yes, just like that other resource poor basket-case, Hong Kong.
>
> Wait . . . no . . .
>
> Europe will not become a poorhouse from lack of resources. They will
> do so from their distaste for economic freedoms.
> As may the US.
> Resources are No antidote for this sort of thing. How well off is
> the average Saudi?
>
> Also, it Is a pretty graphic - but the units seem to be missing.

Jun 15 07:08 AM

[Prudent Inv...:]

The paradigm has changed. Europe looted the rewst of the world of its resources in the past 2000 years. Now we have to pay for them, standing in direct competition with the Chinese who undoubtedly have deeper pockets.
In general I would say that self-moderation will become the buzz word as we cannot maintain the same resource wasting lifestyle 500+ million (whites) in the US and EUrope has been enjoying. Suddenly there are 5 billion non-Westerners demanding their fair share of the world's resources.

Jun 15 08:13 AM

[fran:]

PRUDENT INV--

yes, 5 billion and growing excessively fast to sustain life as historically perceived???

Jun 15 10:11 AM

[Jasper M:]

Pru,
Certainly the paradigm Has changed. But it may change again. Fusion energy, in amounts sufficient to be economically significant, may be just decades away. It that point, petro becomes a convenience, something that competes with batteries only on energy density.

And I find the notion that the Chinese have "undoubtedly deeper pockets" to be highly questionable. The are Still primarily an export based economy, and the parts that aren't are the product of central planning. Not exactly a recipe for success. Add in the fact that 80% of there population is desperately poor, with Very low productivity (= immense service sink, for little return), and I am not impressed with their supposed advantages over our own (admittedly gloomy) prospects.

Jun 15 09:43 PM

[market mojo:]

Wheat? Cotton? Rice? Not exactly natural resources but rather grown products produced by farming. Since when is farming considered the path to prosperity?

Not a very informative or intellectually written article imo.

Jun 28 09:45 AM