From Resource Investor:

It turns out you can’t build a hybrid or electric car, a wind turbine, thin film solar, LEDs, high performance batteries, or a cell phone without these elements. One Prius uses 25 kilograms of the stuff. You also can't fight a modern war without rare earths, being essential for radar, missile guidance systems, navigation, and night vision goggles.

That's where things get interesting. China now produces 97% of the world's rare earth supplies, much of it coming from small mines operating by criminal gangs, where it is safe to say concerns about environmental damage are nil. In 2009, China announced it would start restricting rare earth exports, possibly banning several, it is thought, in order to force foreigners to buy more of its downstream electronic products.

Such a ban was temporarily enforced against Japan last fall, when it arrested a hapless Chinese fisherman (spy) who drifted into disputed territorial waters. The ban was lifted when the man was released. Thus, rare earths made their debut at a Chinese political weapon. Similar restrictions could be enforced against the rest of us as early as...

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