posted by gutI think most of that manufacturing capacity is in China. It would be hard to tool-up for that in a few months, and it's unlikely that someone making car parts is going to change over to making masks, if it were even feasible. Plus, simply "if you pay enough" you have to consider that process starts with someone making the tooling. And with a shortage of that you have to go back even another tier to the people who make the tooling to make the tooling (yes, that's a real thing). All that takes time, even if you're writing a blank check.
A year or two from now under reasonable economics, sure. But we're 3 months into this and we still barely have enough masks for healthcare workers.
I actually used to do a newsletter for a company that produces tooling equipment. I hadn't really considered what all would be involved in that, so perhaps you're right. At least in the short-term, it's probably not feasible. Not with any kind of non-homemade masks, anyway.
But as you said, it's not likely the kids would keep them on well anyway.