What President Trump Can Do With The American System 2.0 - Flipbook - Page 18
were considered practically worthless before. In
the U.S., from 2000 to today, proved reserves of
oil increased from 25 billion barrels to nearly 50
billion barrels, and proved reserves of natural
gas have increased from 200 trillion cubic feet
to 700 trillion cubic feet.
The same can become true for a wide variety
of minerals and raw materials. For example,
large regions of Oregon and Washington in the
Paci昀椀c Northwest contain massive deposits of
aluminum ores (laterite) with concentrations
generally one 昀椀fth to one half that of currently
used aluminum ores (bauxite). With present
technologies, these massive deposits are worthless, but, with higher energy 昀氀ux-density technologies, these will become accessible and profitable deposits. The same is true for iron ores for
steel production. Current ores are about 25 percent iron, while average soil is about 5 percent
iron. With appropriate technological advancements, that soil becomes a resource for iron ore.
Those aren’t unique or special examples. All
natural resources are de昀椀ned by the level of science and technology e昀昀ectively employed in a
physical economy, meaning there are no inherent limits to natural resources, only limits imposed by a given level of technology. When we
say a properly functioning public credit system
borrows against future increases in wealth and
productivity, this is an excellent example.
Many aspects of securing U.S. domestic raw
material production are of immediate priority
for a second Trump administration: protecting
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and expanding U.S. steel production, expanding America’s mining and mineral capabilities,
and cu琀琀ing the absurd bureaucratic and radical
environmental red tape that stands in the way.2
But, generating long-term progress and prosperity also requires initiatives that drive future
technological advance, with a heavy emphasis
on increasing energy 昀氀ux-density for processing
mineral natural resources into the raw materials that feed the economy. Only this can ensure
both secure domestic supplies and negentropic
growth to provide new levels of prosperity.
Manufacturing, Machine Tools, and
Technology
For the 50 year period from 1920 to 1970, U.S.
manufacturing consistently accounted for 20
percent to 30 percent of GDP. Today, it’s only
10 percent. For decades, ivory tower academic
economists teamed up with the Washington,
DC elite to champion our transition to a postindustrial, so-called services economy, placing
us in an incredibly vulnerable situation where
we simply don’t produce what we need to survive. The disruption and collapse of various
vital supply chains during the 2020 COVID-19
outbreak was a harsh wakeup call. Many are
familiar with our reliance on foreign supplies
2. The National Mining Association states that it now can
take 7 to 10 years to secure federal approvals for mines in
the United States, while it takes just two to three years in
countries like Australia and Canada.
What President Trump Can Do With the American System 2.0
