Posted on 03/17/2020 7:37:36 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
One of the strangest manifestations of the threatened coronavirus epidemic in America is toilet paper hoarding. Justin Wolfers, an economics professor at the University of Michigan, has put together a tweet thread explaining why people are hoarding toilet paper. According to him, the motivation behind toilet paper hoarding is the same as the motivation behind runs on banks – people are afraid that, if they don’t keep up with others who want the same finite resource, then the resource will be gone.
The economics of toilet paper shortages is the same as bank runs. [thread]
Even if you’re not freaked out about a pandemic, you worry that everyone else is & they’ll stockpile to 🧻, & you don’t want to be the left paperless. So you stockpile to avoid being shut out by others.— Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) March 4, 2020
So you run and get toilet paper not because you need dozens of rolls, but because you fear that others are going to stockpile leaving none for you.
And they’re buying because they fear (correctly) that you’re running to the store to stock up, leaving none for them.— Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) March 4, 2020
So you run and get toilet paper not because you think society is about to crumble, but because you fear that others fear this. Fear of a run on toilet paper — like a run on banks — is enough to create an actual run.
And when the runs start we need help. (pun intended)— Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) March 4, 2020
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Toilet paper will become a fungible asset.................
FROM ECONOMIST JUSTIN WOLFERS:
The problem is we have two equilibria:
1. Normal times: Everyone believes there will be toilet papers so no-one stockpiles.
2. Panic times: Everyone fears shortages, which leads them to stockpile, which creates shortages.
Here’s how we solve the self-fulfilling panics that cause bank runs:
1. The FDIC insures your money, so even if everyone else is running to the bank, you don’t have to try to beat them.
2. Lender of last resort: The Fed lends to banks facing these runs, so they can keep operating.
All of this says that what we need right now is a government-backed Strategic Toilet Paper Reserve.
That Reserve makes a promise that even if your local Costco an out, you still have the right to buy 2 rolls per week from the government’s stockpile.
The Strategic Toilet Paper Reserve removes the incentive to stockpile. It ensures that even if you see others running to the store to stockpile toilet paper, you no longer need to try to run to beat them. You can relax, knowing that you’ll still be able to wipe your bum.
Fear of a run on toilet paper — like a run on banks — is enough to create an actual run.
See Chuck Schumer and Indy Mac Bank, he knows all about this kinda stuff
*BREAKING NEWS*
I have the runs.
Film at 11.
“Runs” is the wrong word to use in an article about toilet paper.
Ping!
RE: “Runs” is the wrong word to use in an article about toilet paper
What do you thing should be used instead?
“....All of this says that what we need right now is a government-backed Strategic Toilet Paper Reserve....”
LMAO.... “The Creature from Heckel & Jeckel’s Toilet Bowel”
In the 1920s crash humans ran on the banks and got money, in 2020 humans ran on walmarts and got TP.
We’ve really progressed as a species.
Talking about toilet paper and “runs” of any kind belongs in a medical lab or a barroom.
Unless it’s describing the phenomenon known as “panic buying.”
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
What do you thing should be used instead?
= = =
Skid Mark
In Zimbabwe, they run on the banks, get money, and then also have TP.
You’re thinking of this place all wrong. As if I had the toilet paper back in a safe. The toilet paper’s not here. Your toilet paper’s in Joe’s house...right next to yours. And in the Kennedy house, and Mrs. Macklin’s house, and a hundred others. Why, you’re lending them the toilet paper, and then, they’re going to pay it back to you as best they can. Now what are you going to do? Foreclose on them?...Now wait...now listen...now listen to me. I beg of you not to do this thing.
That’s not economics. That’s psychology.
Luckily TP doesn’t have an expiry date. Although it takes up a lot of room, it doesn’t deteriorate. Always a good idea to have a month or two’s supply on hand so there is no need to rush out and stock up.
(1) If they're forced into quarantine, they'll need stockpiled supplies;(2) if they're thrown out of work, they'll need stockpiled supplies; and
(3) if civil unrest should occur, they'll need to stay in their homes, and they'll need stockpiled supplies.
“What do you thing should be used instead?”
Bank trots?
;*)
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