As if congested shipping and rail were not enough, there is also a shortage of long-distance lorry drivers, who shift the bulk of America's freight.

ECONOMIST: Logistics

Instead, he explained that actually European governments spend quite large sums on defence, they just spend it on the wrong things, notably on bloated payrolls, so that the bulk of their uniformed personnel are dentists, cooks, lorry drivers or paunchy clerks in camouflage, rather than combat troops.

ECONOMIST: European politics