With a deep look at the economic and geopolitical challenges of today’s world, economist and academic Vikram Mansharamani was one of the protagonists of the fourth and last day of the XVIII International Congress of Expomin 2025, “Reimagining mining in Latin America”, which is taking place in the Plenary Hall of Espacio Riesco. Vikram was a professor at Harvard University, where he taught students to consider different points of view when facing complex decisions. Prior to that, he taught at Yale University. In addition to his academic work, he serves as an advisor to several CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, helping them manage the uncertainty that pervades today’s business and regulatory environment. During his presentation, Mansharamani addressed the issues that are redefining the global landscape and how they impact industries such as mining. “Technology is the most powerful force confronting humanity, for better or worse,” he said, stressing that technological advances are transforming the economic and social balance at a speed that is difficult to foresee. Among his warnings, he highlighted population aging as one of the most worrying trends. “The world is aging, hence the world’s largest economies are aging faster. This will produce a situation where more people will be living on fixed incomes, which reduces demand and will affect the economy,” he explained. He also emphasized the main risks facing the planet today: excess supply versus insufficient demand, currency wars between countries, the advance of nationalism and populism, and the emergence of trade wars, particularly between China and the United States. In relation to this, he argued that, since the arrival of Donald Trump to the presidency, his administration has sought to radically change U.S. domestic and foreign policy, with an approach that generates global concern. One of his objectives seems to be to reduce China’s influence in the Western Hemisphere. On this dispute, he commented that “it is dividing the world into two economic models: one led by the U.S., based on individualism, and another led by China, more focused on the collective”.