Beijing has suspended exports of certain rare earth minerals and magnets that are crucial for the world’s car, semiconductor and aerospace industries.

    • WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      and profit is more important than everything; including quality of life and national security!

      • AfricanExpansionist@lemmy.ml
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        2 days ago

        Well sure.

        But when the lowest-hanging fruit is all harvested, reaching for the next available thing requires investment and so quarterly profits start dropping. Once the investments have been paid for, profits will never come back to where they were previously so it’s always diminishing returns

        • SynopsisTantilize@lemm.ee
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          2 days ago

          Yes and since the advent of the smart phone I haven’t seen any tangible evidence the next “thing” is here for them to dump money into. (Tangible, not software based)

          • AfricanExpansionist@lemmy.ml
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            2 days ago

            Exactly this!

            They’re pretending it’s AI, or cryptocurrency, but neither has any use case that anybody wants or needs aside from money laundering and homework cheating