Importance of Producing Stuff

The Importance of Producing Stuff
This is nice post by Atanu Dey.
I like the build up and the conclusion is well put
"We need to distinguish between employment and production, between money and income, between aggregate production and distribution. India’s economic policies have stressed employment and not production. That, in no small measure, is why India is poor."

Indian Meat Consumption

Trends in meat consumption
Broiler meat is the fastest growing segment, whereas bovine meat is the slowest segment.

Meat consumption has grown at about 4.8% pa. Poultry (broiler) meat has grown at nearly 20% per annum from a level of 478,000 tpa to 1.4 million tpa. Mutton segment has grown at almost the same rate as the overall meat consumption, whereas pork has grown at a slower pace. The bovine meat segment is virtually stagnant.

Per capita availability has grown from 11.9 grams/ day to 14.65 grams/day during the same period (CAGR = 3.52%)

How does India’s consumption compare with the rest of the world?

There is no straight comparison to derive the potential. However a look at the values, does give an indication of the gap. India’s consumption levels are very low and malnutrition and hunger are prevalent. It can be argued that as long as income levels keep increasing, the demand is likely to keep on growing in the foreseeable future.

The diagram depicted below maps the per capita consumption of meat of India and the rest of the world, for the year 1998. It is in the form of the classical S-curve, with India yet to be at the high growth inflexion point. The diagram would indicate that the inflexion point (at which demand starts accelerating) would be somewhere around 20-25 kg pa.

The position of Japan at low consumption levels could be explained by the fact that Japan is a high fish consuming community, which inhibits its meat consumption.

India’s consumption levels (currently 5.35 pg/ annum) are so low that it can only be explained by low incomes and high relative prices.

The horizontal axis indicates per capita consumption of meat (kg/ annum)

Data source: FAO

The total world consumption of meat is estimated to be of the order of 240 million tpa and India’s share of consumption is only 2.2%. On the other hand, India supports nearly 17% of the world’s population

Crude Oil - Balance of power

Production and Consumption centers of crude oil

The United States and The EU account for 43% of the world demand. Russia and Saudi Arabia account for 23% of the production.

Data source: CIA website

The consumption is heavily skewed towards developed countries. The USA, Japan, The EU, Korea, China and India are heavily dependent on imports since the demand far outstrips the domestic production. Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, Mexico and Venezuela are the leading producers with a very significant part of their produce being available for exports. Asia is also the region which is experiencing the fastest growth on the back of rapid economic development of several countries including two large economies India and China.

Key players in International Trade of crude

Apart from Russia, most of the leading exporters are OPEC nations. The US, The EU, Japan, China, Korea and India are the leading importers

Data source: CIA website

The EU figures in the above list, because it consists of several countries trading amongst themselves. Norway is the most significant exporting nation in Western Europe. Most of the leading exporters are part of OPEC. China, India and Korea have emerged as significant importers and their import requirements are growing fast.

Proven Reserves of Crude oil

Seven OPEC nations control 62% of the world’s proven resources

Figures in Billion barrels

Data source: CIA website

62% of the world’s proven reserves are controlled by Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, UAE, Kuwait, Venezuela and Libya. Saudi Arabia alone controls 20%, and Iran and Iraq account for 18.5% together, while UAE and Kuwait account for another 15% together.

Humans are hardwired for consistency over reason

I read this interesting post by Scott Adams

Today I Will Improve Your Sex Life

The portions that resonated were
"According to the research, humans are hardwired for consistency over reason. You already knew that: People don’t switch political parties or religions easily. What you didn’t know is how quickly and easily a manipulator can lock someone into a position."

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