I learnt a new American military abbreviation this week: SOL, to add to Snafu and Fubar. Snafu, for those who haven’t watched enough war movies, stands for situation normal, all f***** up. Fubar means f***** up beyond all recognition. And SOL? That means shit out of luck. At a time when the world economy seems more Fubar than merely Snafu, it’s worth considering that it’s probably also SOL.

I learnt the term SOL from a man you’ve never heard of: Robert Kadlec. Since August 2017, Kadlec — a career medic with the US Air Force — has been assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the US Department of Health and Human Services. On October 10, 2018, Kadlec gave a lecture at the Robert Strauss