Three comparisons
The whole argument, in three charts
Each uses the book's figures and nothing else, with the reference number of the document behind every one.
True cinnamon against its imitation
The imitation out-earned the original
The cheap substitute. The imitation out-earned the original. [8, 9]
"Last year Sri Lanka earned $246 million from it." [8] Introduction
"Vietnam earned $279 million selling cassia, which is the coarse red bark sold as cinnamon in most of the world." [8, 9] Introduction
"It grows along a strip of the south-western coast and almost nowhere else on earth, and Sri Lanka produces somewhere between 80 and 90% of the world's supply." [6, 7] Introduction
The book gives these as last year's figures.
Sri Lanka against the Maldives
Almost the same visitors, very different money
The Maldives has none. Not one. And it is paid about 1.75 times as much per person who steps off the plane. [21, 20, 22]
"Last year 2.36 million people came to Sri Lanka. 2.25 million went to the Maldives." [20, 21] Introduction
"The Maldives made $5.4 billion. We made $3.2 billion." [22] Introduction
Note: The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority revised its daily-expenditure methodology in August 2025 (from $171.74 to $148.26 on the new basis), so part of the apparent change in daily spend is a change in counting.
"None" means World Heritage Sites: Sri Lanka has 8.
The letter that says yes and means no
177,588 qualified. Around 45,000 got a place.
The rest are a market that nobody has built for. That is cluster 16.
"In 2024, 177,588 of those young people qualified for university admission." [1, 2, 5, 32] Chapter One
"Around 45,000 got a place." [3] Chapter One
The takeaway line was written for this site.