“I Claim This Planet in the Name of Mars”

31st March, 2016

These words were famously spoken by the cartoon character Marvin the Martian to Duck Dodgers, but could now be paraphrased by Etienne Schneider, Luxembourg’s Economic Minister to the World!

You see the Great Space Race is ON! The Dash for minerals has started and its going sky high. The fast starters Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries now have some serious competition from this tiny European country as they all chase the rich polymetallic treasures that wiz about in space.

Cobalt, Copper, Iron, Gold & Nickel are abundantly available as are other uncommon and unknown minerals for those daring enough to place a shovel into these celestial objects.

 “the first trillionaire in the world is going to be the person who first mines asteroids”

Neil deGrasse Tyson, US Astrophysicist

But is not for the faint hearted – NASA’s Osiris Rex is set to spend a $1B to retrieve a mere 2kg sample of space rock later this year. The race has started and like all technologies it WILL become Cheaper and more Profitable!

Remember Gordon Gekko’s phone in the 1987 movie Wall Street? Well that brick retailed for $3,995 – fast forward less than 30years and we have the launch of the Freedom 251, a smart phone for less than 5 bucks!

And remember how quickly the oil industry morphed once fracking technology became available opening up vast reserves that previously were tantalisingly out of reach……

But the real question is one that lawyer Rachael O’Grady clearly articulated when she stated “there’s simply no legal framework” for private investors to mine such celestial bodies.

Now think about that for a moment? The very fabric of our communities function harmoniously due to an accepted rule of law.

So who actually owns these abundant resources? Neil Armstrong, like Marvin the Martian, famously sank his beloved Star Spangled Banner into the moons dusty crust – but did that give the US ownership of the moon? Not according to the 1979 Moon Treaty that says all outer space bodies are the “common heritage of mankind”

But only 16 countries are party to this treaty…..

Common Heritage of Mankind – man didn’t put these asteroids into orbit. Mankind did nothing to manufacture or produce these natural resources. Nature placed them there – like land they are naturally occurring resources without a cost base.

When we have seen how hard the TAXI industry has lobbied against the likes of UBER it starts to make you wonder how hard the “Lobbying” will be before the “Lobbing” of stronger arm(y) tactics occur.

The fight is inevitable. The fight for the control of land, or in this case asteroids, and the naturally occurring benefits that it houses.

Once again it’s all about who owns and controls of the “Effortless Advantage”. The one underpinning truth to how the economy functions.

So please take note. This IS how our economy works and it ensures the Boom Bust cycle must eventuate as the Calnan Flack Economic Cycle Action Plan show us.