The Economist: The Commodities Supercycle Not Over, Just Less Super

Last month, Glenn Dubin, Chairman of Highbridge Capital Management LLC, said the commodities supercycle was over because of the twin factors of declining demand from developing nations and growing supply. Highbridge, an alternative asset manager, controls $29B in assets.

Offering an alternative perspective, Vaughan Wickins of Standard Bank said yesterday at Mines and Money London that the commodities supercycle was “not dead, but just resting.”

“I would maintain that just because you can’t see it [the supercycle effects] in front of your face every day, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.”

The two divergent views are symptomatic of the dilemma within the mining industry.  A correct evaluation of the supercycle question could have a bearing on a miner’s capex plans, whether...