The economics of rare earth metals and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict

Local residents carry belongings past a building destroyed during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 19, 2022.[FILE]

Remember your high school chemistry, especially the periodic table? It is time to refresh your memory and link that to economics and the war in Ukraine.  

Rare earth metals are not that rare; they are simply difficult to extract from their ores. There are about 17 of them.