Quote of the Morning
From a Biz Weak letter writer, in the magazine’s November 20 issue (free for now; last item at link; bold is mine):
Yes, America Uses More Resources—To Produce More
“America’s supersized footprint” (Outside Shot, Oct. 30) bemoans the fact that the U.S., with 5% of global population, uses 25% of global resources. Victoria Markham should know, however, that a country’s use of resources is closely related to its gross domestic product and therefore to its standard of living. The U.S. produces around 25% of the world’s products and services. So on that basis, its use of resources is not out of line. In a number of countries, including Australia and Canada, the resource-to-GDP ratio is high. Is the author really arguing that the U.S. should use only 5% of the world’s resources? Would she prefer that the U.S. have the standard of living of Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, or Haiti?
Danek Bienkowski
Almont, Colo.
