...We examine patterns of supply and demand for iron ore and bauxite, and recent trends in resource productivity of these two important metal ores. We introduce a consumption perspective and compare the material footprint of metal ores to the GDP of countries to look at how much economic benefit...

Part I: The material basis of the economy and resource productivity. Natural resources: the material basis of the economy -- An evolving economic context and new environmental challenges -- Sustainable resource use and resource productivity -- The material basis of the global economy -- The...

The paper presents and analyses the structure and consequences of limits to growth for the global economy. Apart from the famous report for the Club of Rome, a wide range of related literature, which all caution against the idea of unrestricted growth, is also covered. In presenting side tracks...

The findings of empirical studies on the question whether endowments with natural resources are a curse or a blessing are ambiguous. The majority of studies found that resource rich countries grow slower than their resource scarce counterparts (“resource curse”). In recent studies, this...