[tonyedgecombe]

Just how much stock would companies need to avoid the problems we have now? This isn't just a supply side problem, demand for some goods has gone through the roof. How can a business compete on resilience when all their competitors are cheaper because they carry less stock.

I'm not even sure I'd want that as a consumer. Mostly I'd rather wait than pay more (although obviously not for food).

[azinman2]

Except waiting ripples through the economy. You may not need a particular thing, but something that depends on it for their business 18 chain links away from things you need, does. And without it, certain businesses might not be able to sell anything, and thus go bankrupt, and thus put people out of work. It's all a very complicated interconnected web