Market Opinion
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Is There an Inelastic Demand for Rare Earths?
“The quantity of rare earth contained in a motor may be small. The value of the industrial output…
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Jack-in-the-Stox: Fluorspar, a Critical Mineral, Is Not Yet a Chemical Product
In his ongoing Jack-in-the-Stox series, Jack Lifton comments on public companies, technologies, capital markets, supply chains and geopolitics. He is not a…
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Australia’s Critical Minerals Crossroads
Australia is approaching a defining moment in its modern industrial history. For more than a century, Australia has…
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America Has Outrun Its Understanding of Technology
As I read the headlines in the popular press—and, increasingly, in the trade press—about artificial intelligence, Pax Silica,…
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How a Chinese Recession Could Undermine America’s Critical Minerals Strategy
In the event of a Chinese economic recession, how will the United States’ critical minerals economy be directly…
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Critical Minerals Institute Marks Five Years with a Warning That Government Funding Alone Is Not a Strategy
Today, August 20, 2026, the Critical Minerals Institute (CMI) marks its fifth anniversary. Five years after CMI was…
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The China Price Is No Longer the World Price for Rare Earths
The global rare earth market is now bifurcating—and perhaps trifurcating—as I have long predicted it would. Deglobalization is…
