Monday, July 16, 2012

Aluminum Production vs. Debt


Click to enlarge.

I think the ride may be over. As of 2010, we were roughly 10% below the trend line (0.99 correlation notwithstanding).


Click to enlarge.

That's 10,500 square feet of aluminum foil. I shouldn't need to buy any more in my lifetime more than likely. This is not a hyperinflation story to me. I just think the aluminum will probably treat me better than 0.1% treasury bills held long-term. As an added bonus, I won't have to pay tax on any inflationary gains.

Ben Bernanke wanted me to buy stuff. I did. How it helps our long-term economy is beyond me.

And lastly, if we ever move to an aluminum standard then I'm going to be set for life! I say this somewhat tongue in cheek of course.

Source Data:
USGS: Historical Mineral Statistics
St. Louis Fed: Total Credit Market Debt Owed

5 comments:

AllanF said...

BTW, nice stacking job on the foil.

How did you decide to amortize the shelving costs? Straight-line per-unit division? By square-footage? Dollar weighted based on item's value?

I assume you are planning to sell-off shelves as they empty. Did you account for that in your calculations?

Stagflationary Mark said...

AllanF,

Thanks for noticing the earthquake resistant stacking configuration!

As for the extra shelving costs due to hoarding, I opted to do follow the lead of American corporations.

One-time non-recurring charge!!

I'm not sure what I will do with the shelves 20+ years from now. Perhaps in my later years I will make one last mad dash to fill them ALL with canned goods, lol.

I wish I was completely joking. I think there's at least 50% gallows humor here though.

Stagflationary Mark said...

I should also add that much of that aluminum was purchased over time using Costco coupons.

Anonymous said...

It seems like every once-crazy-sounding conspiracy theory is ultimately revealed to be true , the Libor scandal being just the latest example.

So , what if the government really is controlling our thoughts thru electronic minipulation of our brain waves ? Maybe we all better start wearing tin-foil hats.

You may have the raw material supplies for an exciting business opportunity !

Stagflationary Mark said...

Anonymous,

Would the housing bubble have popped if every homeowner had wrapped their house in aluminum foil? I think not! ;)