Michael Burry is the manager of a mutual fund that predicted the collapse of the US housing market in 2005 and made a profit of 489 percent with a profit of $ 2.69 billion.
He also became famous thanks to The big bet, the film based on the book by journalist Michael Lewis which reconstructs the financial crisis of 2008: in the United States alone, five trillion dollars were burned (mostly in the real estate and pension sectors) and eight million people lost their jobs. In the credits of the film it is said that Burry, played by Christian Bale, has retired and has decided to focus everything on one thing: water.
In an almost general indifference, the first contracts were sold at the end of December futures which give the possibility to bet on the stock market on the price of water Some argue that in this way agricultural producers will be able to protect themselves from sudden changes in the cost of water resources. While others are concerned that everyone’s resource can be bought or sold on the stock exchange and be exploited for financial speculation.
Meanwhile, the price of water is still rising. Not only of that for agricultural use listed on the stock exchange, but also of the water that comes out of the taps: a Guardian investigation revealed that between 2010 and 2018 its price in twelve US cities increased on average by 80 per one hundred.
The result is that millions of people are unable to pay their bills and run out of running water. The situation is so serious that the state of New York has had to declare a moratorium on the suspension of supply for domestic use.
Research by Cornell University calculated that if the moratorium had been applied nationwide, nearly half a million covid infections and at least nine thousand deaths could have been avoided.
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