Re:Wall Street's thirst for water: a market for water will d...
by malandrew on Saturday October 27, 2012 @05:54PM
(#4707356)
That's my sentiment as well (as an engineer who formerly worked as an associate analyst on the equivalent of Wall Street in Brazil).
The only way I could get behind the financialization of water is if there is the equivalent of a "Water bill of rights" which guarantees enough free water to meet the needs of humans using that water for drinking and washing up of cooking equipment. I think this is a guarantee that should extend to every single market/country in which Wall Street wants to trade water. Want to trade water in third-world Country X? Fine, but before you can make any profits, you first must set aside a cut of revenue to subsidize the minimum guaranteed amount of water per person in that country and subsidize the infrastructure to get that water to each citizen.
Assuming individuals have a human right to the water they need, the big risk is what trading in water will do to the cost of food. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing as it will force agriculture to start innovating on how they use water, perhaps moving into mass aquaponics or other solutions that minimize water use and buffer society against volatility in food prices due to droughts and mother nature.
The main risk of the subsequent rising inflation is how many people it could return to poverty. Again this is somewhere, where I think regulation could be used to shield or subsidize markets where rising water prices will cause an increase in the number of people living below the poverty line.
Overall, the right to earn profits should come with the obligation to prevent poverty and improve the human condition at the bottom.
The only way I could get behind the financialization of water is if there is the equivalent of a "Water bill of rights" which guarantees enough free water to meet the needs of humans using that water for drinking and washing up of cooking equipment. I think this is a guarantee that should extend to every single market/country in which Wall Street wants to trade water. Want to trade water in third-world Country X? Fine, but before you can make any profits, you first must set aside a cut of revenue to subsidize the minimum guaranteed amount of water per person in that country and subsidize the infrastructure to get that water to each citizen.
Assuming individuals have a human right to the water they need, the big risk is what trading in water will do to the cost of food. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing as it will force agriculture to start innovating on how they use water, perhaps moving into mass aquaponics or other solutions that minimize water use and buffer society against volatility in food prices due to droughts and mother nature.
The main risk of the subsequent rising inflation is how many people it could return to poverty. Again this is somewhere, where I think regulation could be used to shield or subsidize markets where rising water prices will cause an increase in the number of people living below the poverty line.
Overall, the right to earn profits should come with the obligation to prevent poverty and improve the human condition at the bottom.