Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by djdkrkfkgk 2286 days ago
Isn't the problem right now not money, but lack of supply?

The US gov is ready to pay for 500 mil respirators, but has nowhere to buy from.

3 comments

The donation above was to the charitable arm of a logistics company. Supply chain disruption is a big issue.

For regular PPE, there does exist supply abroad. The issue is quickly getting it where it needs to go.

(N95 has the biggest supply constraints, but I imagine this is helping with surgical masks, gloves, etc)

Money is not the problem indeed, the best donators now are those who have some factories and convert them to make masks/hydroalcoholic gel/ventilators (LVMH in France would be an example, producing the first two in their parfume and clothing factories).
Virtue signaling, but maybe there's other places where capital is a constraint and this will inspire other wealthy donors who can move capital faster than government.

Subtly, extreme capital can drive extreme solutions. Picking a random example, if less-effective-but-better-than-nothing masks can be manufactured by hand locally, then (say) $20 per mask would motivate millions of citizens to hustle, especially if they're out of work.