Village? Basel city has a population of about 170'000 (close to a million with the surrounding area) and is home to some of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world (Ciba, Novartis)

>And one more time... RESOURCES != GOODS very true. however, it takes more than (natural) ressources to produce goods, you also need machines, labour... you have to take that into account as well. energy consumption compared to goods production has nothing to do with effiency. the US can do that because they have cheap manpower available, think illegal immigrants. it has nothing to do with effiency