Alternative Market Briefing

Book review – All I ever wanted to know about commodities

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Benedicte Gravrand, Opalesque London: Living in a Material World – the Commodity Connection, by Kevin Morrison, 308 pages, published in June 2008 by John Wiley and Sons Ltd (www.wileyfinance.com). A timely introduction to commodities from a veteran journalist who specialises in the subject.

This is an extremely readable book that takes the readers on a tour around the most important raw materials, from their sources to their uses, passing through their dealings in the financial market. Kevin Morrison, a journalist who has worked for the Financial Times, Reuters and The Sydney Herald Tribune, travelled the world, met with “farmers, miners, oil ministers, financiers, environmentalists, lawyers and policy advisors” and brought together a well researched, fast-paced and informative piece on our “material world”, covering energy, agriculture, climate, metals and finally trading, adding odd anecdotes to information, as well as notes and references.

The book examines some of the factors behind the moves in commodity prices and their link with climate change, the connection between the consumer and the raw materials, the every-day relevance of commodities. It is aimed at investors and consumers.

Energy The first section discusses energy, its economic value and its political importance. The author takes a look at the re-emergence of coal, renewable energies such as wind and solar nuclear power, oil, hydr......................

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