Industrial societies need factories, offices, apartment buildings, power plants, machines, transportation, energy. These things cannot be built without steel, aluminum, copper, concrete and other materials.

Then, due to generally “booming” economies throughout the world, demand for goods rose swiftly. Governments had borrowed and pumped more and more money into their economies to sustain this prosperity. But while demand suddenly rose, newer factories and mines were not being built fast enough. Inventories were exhausted in a short time. A typical example was that of copper, which had an average production growth of about 4 percent a year since the early 1950’s. But in 1973 demand for copper in the Western world increased by more than 10 percent. Thus, demand for goods outstripped the ability to produce them, which also helped to bring about rampant inflation.

Japan is often looked to as an example of material progress. But it has been accomplished largely with the resources of other nations. In addition to importing much of its food supply, Japan imports most of the raw materials used in its industry. This includes 92 percent of its iron ore, 59 percent of its coking and bituminous coal, all its bauxite ore, 84 percent of its copper, and 99.7 percent of its petroleum.