When a disease such as the Coronavirus hits, you would expect that there might be a greater demand for hand sanitizer, face masks, and cleaning supplies. However, the following clearing out of shelves for not only these items, but dried goods, bottled water, and, most shocking of all, toilet paper.
The recent panic is a classic example of how economics can't explain human behavior. While people are conditioned to buy canned and dried goods to prepare for natural disasters, pandemics do not affect supply chains to the same extent. However incompetent government leaders might be, transportation and food production is the one thing that will still be allowed during times of crisis. With the governmental price ceiling to prevent price gouging, it's natural to have a shortage of hand sanitizers and masks.
The one thing that economics can't explain is the frenzy for toilet paper. Diarrhea is not one of the major symptoms of the Coronavirus, yet people are buying up entire store's worth fearing that they might not be able to get any in the future. Theoretically, the demand curve for Toilet Paper should not shift at all, but economics can't explain irrationality.
P.S. Bidets exist
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