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.

For instance, Jamaica and a few other lands, such as Guinea, Guyana and Surinam, have rich deposits of bauxite, the basic ore for making aluminum. Their prices have been rising significantly. Copper faces the same future, since Chile, Peru, Zambia and Zaïre supply most of the world’s exportable surplus.

For example, the Netherlands imports most of its protein foods, all its cotton, and about 80 percent of its wool. It also imports all its antimony, bauxite, copper, gold, iron ore, nickel, phosphate and potash fertilizers, tin, zinc and many other commodities, including oil. Other European nations are in a similar situation.

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.

[Chart on page 18]

WHOLESALE PRICE INCREASES WITHIN THE UNITED STATES IN JUST ONE YEAR

COMMODITY MID-1973 MID-1974 INCREASE

Newsprint, ton $169.00 $205.00 21 percent

Steel scrap, ton 53.00 145.00 174 percent

Sulphuric acid, ton 31.00 41.00 32 percent

Tin, lb. 2.18 4.49 106 percent

Copper, lb.  .60  .86 43 percent