Kevin Morrison 
Living in a Material World 
The Commodity Connection

At a time when the world is grappling with rising food and energy
prices and climate change, Living in a Material World provides an
insight into some of the contributing factors behind these
challenges. The emergence of new consumers in China, India, Russia
and the Middle East has added formidable competition to the natural
resources that have been taken for granted in the developed world.

Everything we consume involves the use of metals, fossil fuels
or agriculture. Our high tech ‘lifestyles’ depend on the secure
supply of these raw materials which we take from planet earth and
use to make our lives more comfortable, more productive or more
manageable. The effect of this increasing global demand for
commodities has pushed up prices of materials from oil and copper
to corn and wheat; forcing consumers to pay more for the many
‘necessities’ of life, from a loaf of bread to electricity
bills.

Since the commodity boom has unfolded, commodities have gone
from the back page of the newspaper to the front; with more and
more headlines about record food and oil prices, dire climate
change warnings, energy security and China’s demand for more raw
materials.

This era of high oil and food prices is no passing phase: The
supply of many key natural resources is stretched to the limit. But
what is the real cost?

Living in a Material World makes the link between raw materials
and the consumer, and shows how they are relevant to everybody,
everyday – now more so than at any time since the last oil shock
nearly three decades ago. A unique insight into this ‘once in a
generation’ boom, the book shows how the increasing value of
commodities is impacting on consumers and investors, in ways we are
only just beginning to understand.

‘It was a great pleasure to read this book which provides an
essential background to understanding commodities for anybody
interested in understanding them more closely. It is so rare to see
all the essential elements brought together in one book.’

-Chris Brodie, Krom River Partners LLP

‘Kevin Morrison set out to write a book about the daily
relevance that raw materials have for the ordinary consumer. He has
achieved his objective par excellence. The subject matter has been
comprehensively researched and well documented – yet the writer has
avoided using complicated technical language. The style of the book
is more in tune with a novel and the main topics are treated with a
special sense of humour. I would readily recommend this work to
anyone interested in how global energy issues have a direct affect
on us all.’

-Mehdi Varzi, President, Varzi Energy, London

Table of Content

Introduction.

1. Energy.

2. Agriculture.

3. Climate.

4. Metals.

5. Traders.

References.

Index.

About the author

Kevin Morrison has been a journalist for 17 years, working for the Financial Times, Reuters, Sydney Morning Herald and now with Argus Media, as well as contributing to other publications including Base Metals.com. During that period he has covered the rise and fall of the dot com bubble and has spent most of this decade writing about the global commodities boom and the emergence of the carbon emissions trading sector for the Financial Times in London and for Argus. This decade Morrison has travelled around the world meeting farmers, miners, oil ministers, financiers, environmentalists, lawyers and policy advisors. His experiences during this period, during which time the commodities world has moved from the obscure to the mainstream, provide the material for this book. His interest in agriculture stems from his parents upbringing on farms and the environment has always been an area of strong interest. Morrison now lives in Sydney with his wife and daughter. This is his first book.