Coronavirus: Elasticity of supply of ventilators

This article flags up the issue of price elasticity of supply in the middle of the coronavirus outbreak: the governments clarion call for businesses to shift to the manufacture of ventilators makes you wonder whether it will be easy to produce more in the short-term.

It is interesting to note the things that are likely to limit the ability of industry to respond. The major issue appears to be a regulatory one - that and the intellectual property rights of existing manufacturers who may be pressed into sharing proprietary intellectual property with other firms.