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Re:Paul Graham donates to flexport.org for healthcare worker... by djdkrkfkgk on Sunday March 22, 2020 @06:50AM (#22654057)
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.

Re:Paul Graham donates to flexport.org for healthcare worker... by graeme on Sunday March 22, 2020 @07:20AM (#22654177)
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)

Re:Paul Graham donates to flexport.org for healthcare worker... by gregoriol on Sunday March 22, 2020 @07:04AM (#22654114)
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).
Re:Paul Graham donates to flexport.org for healthcare worker... by asah on Sunday March 22, 2020 @07:05AM (#22654117)
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.