This is why asteroid mining is so important. Imagine an ~8 year long ~$20 billion dollar mission to the asteroid belt that would bring back a 1000 metric tons

This is why asteroid mining is so important. Imagine an ~8 year long ~$20 billion dollar mission to the asteroid belt that would bring back a 1000 metric tons of rare earth metals. It would mess with the economy for sure and I bet the second trip would only cost about $2 billion. Scarcity is the great enemy.