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China warns its rare earth reserves are declining
- SlipperySlope 14y agoEconomics seems to always have an answer for declining natural resources... Planetary Resources wants to mine rare earths from asteroids by the end of this decade.
- wcoenen 14y agoOn the other hand, economics seems to be all about exponential growth, which can't go on forever. For example, a seemingly modest growth rate of 2% is a doubling every 35 years (because 1.02^35=2). So once you've depleted a resource on earth, you'll consume another earth-equivalent in just 35 years. Then two earths. Then four, eight, sixteen,...