War is Helium

Geo-political economics is not my strong suit until it hits me in the face.

Yesterday, my brother-in-law celebrated his 6irst birthday. He is the patriarch of a fruitful and prosperous family. Since he started grandfathering four years ago, his four daughters have produced five grandchildren and three more are on the way. We hope the baby formula mess will be figured out by the time the three new ones arrive which is between thee and six months from now when there will be anither series of joyous, fun filled get togethers.

 We stopped at the local Harris Teeter to pick up some helium baloons for the celebration. The baloon guy at the store told us that he was out of helium. We surmised that the shortage was due to graduation parties. 

Baloon guy told us no. The Russians were the goddamned problem. They control helium supply and on this planet and because of the war in Ukraine they were sanctioning NATO members from helium. Not only are the Russians murdering thousands in ongoing war crimes which is costing the United States billions of dollars but they're also threatening the jobs of baloon salespersons throughout the United States.

What the hell?

Close but no cigar.

In reality,  a fire and an explosion at one of the world’s largest natural gas processing facilities in Amur, Russia, means helium production at the facility will stop for at least six months. Putin's war with Ukraine has also likely timpacted Russian production, which is the fifth largest helium producer in the world, according to the US Geological Survey.

Damn! We were looking forward to listening to the children take a hit of helium and hearing their voices change, that is if we could get the baloons away from the adults who love nothing better than topping off too many beers with helium voices before launching the baloons into the sky and watching them drift and disappear. 

Na ga da it today. 

War is helium.

But really what is helium and what's going on with the helium industry?

Helium is an odorless gas unlike some of the other gases that will be manifesting at the party.

According to Mordor Intelligence:

" Helium has a wide range of uses in the healthcare industry. It can reach a temperature of -269° C, making liquid helium the best option for cooling the magnets of MRI machines. Helium is also being used for breathing observation. It is an essential component in treating emphysema, asthma, and other conditions that affect breathing.

The gas is usually used to treat lung diseases. Oxygen and helium are used together for the treatment of acute and chronic forms of respiratory ailments, as the combination reaches the lungs faster than all the others. There is no substitute for helium in cryogenic helium applications.

Geographically, helium finds the largest amount of use in the North American healthcare sector. The United States spend a major share of their GDP on healthcare. Acccording to the National Health Expenditure Accounts (NHEA), the United States healthcare spending grew 9.7 percent in 2020, reaching USD 4.1 trillion or USD 12,530 per person.  The healthcare spending accounted for 19.7 percent of the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Similarly, healthcare has become one of the largest sectors in India due to its strengthening coverage, services, and increasing expenditure by public and private players. Liberalization of government policies has also enabled 100% FDI in the medical devices market, and thus, a number of multi-national companies are looking forward to establishing their manufacturing bases in the country."

So yeah, it's a pretty big deal  especially devastating to the cryogenics industry as well as jeopardizing the jobs of baloon guys throughout the world, further inflating health care costs and denting our GDP.

And taking some of the fun out of my brother-in-law's birthday.