Bootstrappers Fhaheen Khan, MakeUK

Barney Macintyre talks to a rising economist about the uncertain future of British manufacturing

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Few will know about the “glass famine” of 1915. The optical glass used in binoculars, telescopes and sniperscopes was essential for fighting during the first world war at long distances — and the UK was in danger of running out. So the government sent an official to Switzerland to investigate if it would be possible to obtain supplies from the world’s dominant supplier, who, as it turned out, was also the enemy.

But Germany was in a similar pickle. The Second Reich was desperately short of rubber. Against the odds, a deal was struck that suspended the normal conventions of warfare. Rubber for glass.