YOGYAKARTA—Interdependence may be the theme of this year’s annual meeting of the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals, and Sustainable Development (IGF), held in Geneva on October 12–14, but competition between countries to secure transition minerals remains intense. This scramble could have dire consequences for mineral-producing countries if it undermines sustainability standards and prevents equitable cost- and benefit-sharing between and within countries.

Neil Leslei/Getty Images Economics 5 The Dismally Obedient Science Carolina Alves While empirical inquiry has its place in economics, the pursuit of causality must not be allowed to displace the pursuit of explanation. Beyond identifying causal effects within existing arrangements, economists must investigate how those arrangements are produced, reproduced, and contested. warns that empirical research in economics is displacing investigation of underlying causes.

The Dismally Obedient Science

While empirical inquiry has its place in economics, the pursuit of causality must not be allowed to displace the pursuit of explanation. Beyond identifying causal effects within existing arrangements, economists must investigate how those arrangements are produced, reproduced, and contested.

J Studios/Getty Images Longer Reads 1 Closing Europe’s Dynamism Deficit Carl Benedikt Frey identifies the roots of continental sclerosis, and explains what a successful economic model would look like.

Closing Europe’s Dynamism Deficit

Li Yahui/Xinhua via Getty Images Innovation 0 Technological Leapfrogging in the AI Age Mark-Alexandre Doumba points out that development depends on building indigenous capacity, not mere access to imported innovations.

Technological Leapfrogging in the AI Age

The International Energy Agency estimates that, to achieve net-zero emissions, demand for critical minerals will triple by 2030 and quadruple by 2040. Mineral-rich countries, aware of the “resource curse,” are........

© Project Syndicate