Latin America’s New Lithium Bounty Unearths an Old Problem
From Mexico to Chile, governments still haven’t cracked the code on how to leverage natural resources into sustained, broad-based prosperity.
Vast riches can bring big problems.
Photographer: Anita Pouchard Serra/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
What to do with all the lithium? Sell it to the highest bidder? Or maybe ban exports? How about setting up a lithium cartel, to ensure a high price?
These questions are proving thorny for a clutch of Latin American countries that have found themselves sitting on massive deposits of a mineral critical for a carbon-free future.