Economics class: Investors see ‘gold rush on steroids’ for green battery metals
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
This article picked by a teacher with suggested questions is part of the Financial Times free schools access programme. Details/registration here.
Specification:
demand and supply, interrelationship between markets, market failure, economic development
Click to read the article below and then answer the questions:
Investors see ‘gold rush on steroids’ for green battery metals
Define market-clearing price.
Using the chart on lithium carbonate prices, calculate the percentage change from the peak in 2018 to the slump in 2020.
Using a diagram, explain how “the world’s shift towards electric vehicles and renewable energy” may affect the price of lithium.
Analyse the effects that a global shift towards green economies may have on firms which produce energy from fossil fuels.
“DeepGreen says it is targeting commercial production from small metal rich nodules on the sea floor in 2024 . . . Many scientists have opposed deep sea mining, however, saying it risks irreversible harm to ocean ecosystems.” Evaluate the view that the benefits from a shift to a green economy outweigh the costs.
Developing countries like Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of Congo are experiencing inflows of FDI for projects linked to battery metals. Analyse the consequences of FDI on the economic development of economies such as Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Elin Egger, Framlingham College
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