It’s Freedom Academy Book Club day! I’m super excited to have David Abraham, author of Elements of Power: Gadgets, Guns, and the Struggle for a Sustainable Future to give us a primer into the geopolitical battle over rare earths and critical minerals. I picked up this book after seeing David on a panel on critical minerals for the Council for Foreign Relations, and was frankly shocked to hear how far behind the U.S. is on mining and processing these minerals and metals that are essential not only for our everyday lives (do you know what goes into making your smartphone, or LED lightbulbs in your house?) but also for our national defense and green technology to reduce carbon emissions and global warming. His book was incredibly eye-opening.
Spoiler alert: China is eating our lunch (it produces over 80% of the world’s rare earths — I’ve seen some stats that say 90%) so…things are not looking good. But, Trump just signed a rare earths deal with Japan today, so David can help us understand what it means and whether we can still turn the tide. Also, could an obsession with rare earths and critical minerals explain Trump’s constant threats to invade Greenland and Canada? Tune in and find out!
If you are not able to join this evening, the talk will be recorded and posted for paid subscribers tomorrow. Please join at the following link:
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