Critical Minerals Are a Tricky Business. What Could Help.

The Payne Institute for Public Policy's Brad Handler, Andrew Bauman and Morgan Bazillian co-wrote this opinion piece with Economics and Business Professor Ian Lange about the potential impacts of the U.S. government stockpiling critical minerals.
March 9, 2026

What happens if the U.S. can’t get enough magnesium? You don’t want to find out.

Morgan Bazilian, director of the Payne Institute for Public Policy, co-authors this article looking at the role magnesium plays within the U.S. defense industry.
December 23, 2025

Rare Earths Are Hot. Not All of the Government’s New Buys Will Thrive.

Morgan Bazilian and Brad Handler of the Payne Institute for Public Policy, Ian Lange, professor of economics and business, and student researcher Andrew Bauman authored this opinion piece on the potential impact of the U.S. government's renewed push ....
November 5, 2025

Trump coal plan includes private land unlikely to be mined

Ian Lange, professor of economics and business, discusses the challenges associated with mining coal that is on land with split, public and private, ownership.
October 1, 2025

How the U.S. will break China’s rare earth dominance—and how to play it

Morgan Bazilian, director of the Payne Institute for Public Policy, says the public/private partnership that has formed around the firm MP, the largest U.S.-based rare earth company, is a game changer.
September 12, 2025

The Market Case for Methane Reductions

Simon Lomax, who leads the methane emissions reduction program at the Payne Institute for Public Policy, co-authors this guest column about why methane reductions are more than just good for the environment.
June 17, 2025

Chile Is Nationalizing Lithium. It May Not Go How Nervous Investors Expect.

Morgan Bazilian, director of the Payne Institute for Public Policy, co-authored this opinion piece about the potential impact of Chilean President Gabriel Boric's recent announcement to nationalize the country’s lithium industry.
April 26, 2023

Opinion: Markets for Critical Minerals Are Too Prone to Failure

Morgan Bazilian, director of the Payne Institute for Public Policy and professor at Colorado School of Mines, co-authored this opinion piece about one of the underappreciated financial challenges of the green energy transition.
December 17, 2022