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The same reason grain and cheese have derivative markets Michael Burry, of Big Short fame, is well known for moving his interest to water investment/trading ma

The same reason grain and cheese have derivative markets Michael Burry, of Big Short fame, is well known for moving his interest to water investment/trading many years ago https://www.killik.com/the-edit/why-michael-burry-is-investing-in-water/ https://www.killik.com/the-edit/why-michael-burry-is-investi... This article goes some way to explaining the rationale

puranjay 6y ago
> The same reason grain and cheese have derivative markets Grain and cheese are the product of human activity. Fresh, clean water exists in plenty in nature.
- harperlee 6y ago
  I may need coffee, but what problem is entailed by what you state?
- VMG 6y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_conflict https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_conflict
- stevesimmons 6y ago
  >Fresh, clean water exists in plenty in nature. Except in the places/times it isn't, which is much of the world for some of the time, and some of the world for much of the time. Water rights exist, and who gets to exercise them in times of shortage can be very contentious, and even a cause for war.
  - puranjay 6y ago
    > Water rights exist, and who gets to exercise them in times of shortage can be very contentious, and even a cause for war. Which is precisely why trading water futures is an immoral idea and can't be compared to trading any other commodity. There exist alternatives for every commodity on the planet (don't have oil? Use coal. No coal? Use wood, etc.), but there are none for water.
    - eru 6y ago
      You probably think that trading organs is immoral as well? There's plenty of alternatives to any specific water, just use some other water. (And if you really want to, you can make water from oxygen and hydrocarbons.)
    - easytiger 6y ago
      This is philosophically giberish. The world is not delivering water to your exact location at all times on demand. Logistics, infrastructure and regulations are.
- bagpuss 6y ago
  1 litre of water = 1 kilo. Difficult to extract, store and transport while maintaining quality.
- sanxiyn 6y ago
  On the other hand, moving water is certainly the product of human activity, such as California Aqueduct moving water from Northern California to Southern California.
- Areading314 6y ago
  The idea that fresh, drinkable water exists "in plenty" is extremely off base. Humans need vast quantities of fresh water to allow modern-day life. Furthermore it is incredibly expensive to provide fresh water at any meaningful scale when it is not available naturally.
  - puranjay 6y ago
    Humans need vast quantities of fresh water. A human does not. There is "plenty" of water for an individual in nature.
    - eru 6y ago
      Human industry and agriculture needs lots of water. The numbers are fairly large even for individuals. Humans themselves need fairly small amounts for direct use like eating, drinking, hygiene.
    - itsoktocry 6y ago
      >There is "plenty" of water for an individual in nature. What do you mean by "nature"? Do you own the land where the water is, or do you simply plan on collecting rainwater? Otherwise, you don't own the water. This is a real-life problem that countries and communities the world over are dealing with.
    - anoncake 6y ago
      Earth is populated by humans, not by a human.
  - jeltz 6y ago
    Yes and no. There are huge amounts of fresh drinkable water. It is just that it is in Canada and Russia and not where we have our agriculture. Here in Stockholm we have much more clean water than we ever could use, just like Russia and Canada. Water shortages are local problems. The issue is just that a lot of the world's agriculture are on places with little water.
- mulmen 6y ago
  Dams and pipes are also products of human activity.
- easytiger 6y ago
  > Fresh, clean water exists in plenty in nature Not really no. It requires huge amounts of infrastructure, logistics, regulation to get it to people. Industrial activity, farming use water to make the food you eat
- eru 6y ago
  What about iron ore or gold?
fakedang 6y ago
And he exited his water positions a few years back too.

puranjay 6y ago

> The same reason grain and cheese have derivative markets Grain and cheese are the product of human activity. Fresh, clean water exists in plenty in nature.

harperlee 6y ago
I may need coffee, but what problem is entailed by what you state?
VMG 6y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_conflict https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_conflict
stevesimmons 6y ago
>Fresh, clean water exists in plenty in nature. Except in the places/times it isn't, which is much of the world for some of the time, and some of the world for much of the time. Water rights exist, and who gets to exercise them in times of shortage can be very contentious, and even a cause for war.
- puranjay 6y ago
  > Water rights exist, and who gets to exercise them in times of shortage can be very contentious, and even a cause for war. Which is precisely why trading water futures is an immoral idea and can't be compared to trading any other commodity. There exist alternatives for every commodity on the planet (don't have oil? Use coal. No coal? Use wood, etc.), but there are none for water.
  - eru 6y ago
    You probably think that trading organs is immoral as well? There's plenty of alternatives to any specific water, just use some other water. (And if you really want to, you can make water from oxygen and hydrocarbons.)
  - easytiger 6y ago
    This is philosophically giberish. The world is not delivering water to your exact location at all times on demand. Logistics, infrastructure and regulations are.
bagpuss 6y ago
1 litre of water = 1 kilo. Difficult to extract, store and transport while maintaining quality.
sanxiyn 6y ago
On the other hand, moving water is certainly the product of human activity, such as California Aqueduct moving water from Northern California to Southern California.
Areading314 6y ago
The idea that fresh, drinkable water exists "in plenty" is extremely off base. Humans need vast quantities of fresh water to allow modern-day life. Furthermore it is incredibly expensive to provide fresh water at any meaningful scale when it is not available naturally.
- puranjay 6y ago
  Humans need vast quantities of fresh water. A human does not. There is "plenty" of water for an individual in nature.
  - eru 6y ago
    Human industry and agriculture needs lots of water. The numbers are fairly large even for individuals. Humans themselves need fairly small amounts for direct use like eating, drinking, hygiene.
  - itsoktocry 6y ago
    >There is "plenty" of water for an individual in nature. What do you mean by "nature"? Do you own the land where the water is, or do you simply plan on collecting rainwater? Otherwise, you don't own the water. This is a real-life problem that countries and communities the world over are dealing with.
  - anoncake 6y ago
    Earth is populated by humans, not by a human.
- jeltz 6y ago
  Yes and no. There are huge amounts of fresh drinkable water. It is just that it is in Canada and Russia and not where we have our agriculture. Here in Stockholm we have much more clean water than we ever could use, just like Russia and Canada. Water shortages are local problems. The issue is just that a lot of the world's agriculture are on places with little water.
mulmen 6y ago
Dams and pipes are also products of human activity.
easytiger 6y ago
> Fresh, clean water exists in plenty in nature Not really no. It requires huge amounts of infrastructure, logistics, regulation to get it to people. Industrial activity, farming use water to make the food you eat
eru 6y ago
What about iron ore or gold?

fakedang 6y ago

And he exited his water positions a few years back too.