Markets, Not Governments, Solved the Critical Minerals ‘Crisis’

Just a few years ago, the world was supposedly running out of the metals and minerals necessary for the energy transition. In May 2021, for example, the International Energy Agency warned of a “looming mismatch” between the supply and demand of cobalt, lithium, nickel and other critical minerals. A few years later, Washington think tanks were still warning of short supplies, with one calling the matter a “national security imperative.” Members of both political parties responded to the “emergenc