Friday, October 22, 2010

Our Masters Of The Universe Screw The Pooch Yet Again

China Halts Rare-Earth Elements Exports to US, EU

"Market analysts reveal that China, which controls an estimated 90+ percent of the world market in this field, quietly stopped exporting the essential chemicals to the US and the European Union (EU)."

Why The Chinese Monopoly On Rare Earth Elements Is So Incredibly Dangerous

"Most Americans have no idea why rare earth elements are important or why the Chinese monopoly on them is so dangerous. But now that China is enforcing strict new quotas on the export of these metals a lot more people are going to start learning about them. So just exactly what are they? Well, "rare earth elements" is a name that has been given to 17 metals from the middle of the Periodic Table with nearly unpronounceable names such as lanthanum, cerium, tantalum, neodymium and europium. These metals are used in an increasing number of high technology products. Everything from iPods to wind turbines to missile-guidance systems use these metals. Unfortunately, today China controls over 90 percent of the world supply of rare earth elements. This puts China in an incredibly powerful position.

It was a huge mistake for the rest of the world to let China develop such a monopoly. These metals are absolutely essential in today's world.

Just consider a few of the products that use rare earth elements....

*Hybrid car batteries
*Flat screen televisions
*Cell phones
*iPods
*Radar systems
*Missile-guidance systems
*Satellites
*Aircraft electronics
*Smart bombs
*Electric car engines

Are you ready for a world without iPods or cell phones?

Well, that is what we would potentially be facing without these rare earth elements.

Now China has announced that they will be significantly cutting back on the export of these metals.

However, there are no export quotas on rare earth metals contained in finished goods from China.

So do you know what that means?

It means even more things will now be made in China.

The rest of the world can start to develop their own supplies of rare earth elements, but that is going to take time and it is going to be very expensive.
Meanwhile, China is going to be developing an increasingly tighter grip over the manufacturing of high-tech products."

The Chances of a War with China are Rising

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