It seems like during periods of uncertainty, the main thing that many Americans worry about is running out of toilet paper. We saw this during the pandemic when store shelves were quickly stripped bare of the product. I recall seeing my neighbors unloading many multipacks of toilet paper from their car and carting them into their house.
We now see the same thing happening because of fears that the strike by dockworkers at eastern US and Gulf ports would lead to shortages. Whereas the pandemic fear had at least some basis in reality because everything was uncertain and we did not know how long the supply chain disruptions would last, this latest hoarding makes no sense since almost all the toilet paper sold in the US is made within the country or in Canada and thus is not affected by the dock strike.
[Read more…]