taw comments on The First London Rationalist Meetup - Less Wrong

12 Post author: taw 04 April 2009 05:49PM

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Comment author: taw 04 April 2009 06:33:10PM 1 point [-]

We discussed imports and exports, and couldn't decide if Mexico was a net importer or exporter, so we went on assumption that most likely imports and exports are small percentage of total maize production and consumption. I stand by this.

50% estimate was quite reasonable based on European land use patterns. I mean - what else would you use all the land lying around for if not food? I would go for lower number now, but it still doesn't strike me as absurd.

Comment author: badger 04 April 2009 06:52:11PM 4 points [-]

From the perspective of someone in the American west, most of it just isn't used for anything. I think 50% of occupied land being used for agriculture is a decent heuristic; it's just that less land is developed for any purpose in North America.

Comment author: [deleted] 07 August 2013 12:23:03AM 0 points [-]

That link is for arable land, not total land.

You can see on Wikipedia that only around 12% of Mexico's land is arable.