In 19 forty, when roosevelt called for a great increase in production, there was a los of spare capacity in american industry. So this is a matter of America not having that kind of spare industrial capacity any more. Iea, what's the thinking on how to get things rolling off production lines again? You can increase staffing. The longer term response has to do with having bigger stock piles, which is expensive and versifying suppliers. May be looking for ways of having simpler designs to weapons. Can be made with modules that can be swapped as there are dated, more plug and play type ideas. And then you can think of join acquisition as well to try and get economies of
America accounts for the lion’s share of weaponry sent to Ukraine. But that may leave it short of arms in onward conflicts; boosting production is not as easy as it may seem. The widespread cost-of-living crunch is particularly acute in Britain; we visit a food bank to see how people are coping. And the surprising demographic trends shaping contemporary California.
For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer