tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7130783656461229914.post6392876524844872972..comments2022-10-31T01:18:41.488-07:00Comments on Economy Class: The Media and Panic BuyingDavid Chivershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04624675446164893647noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7130783656461229914.post-66726379415910066632020-03-21T04:09:19.496-07:002020-03-21T04:09:19.496-07:00All these are excellent points! Yes, worrying abou...All these are excellent points! Yes, worrying about have to self quarantine is completely rational. I didn't cover this to limit the word count but I agree. Also, as we are likely to shop less, demand for longlife goods will increase over shorterm goods which is what we really want.<br /><br />In terms of the supply chains point, this is the other thing I think the news could be better at. There are quite a lot of contingency plans since the last SARs outbreak explaining how these things work and is another part of the process. Just telling us "everything is fine" is not good enough.<br /><br />In terms of your last point, I think rationing is an option, although I would prefer us to fill the shelves as much as we can before then. Price increases are little more tricky but one worry is people actually start buying more of them because people think it is a signal that the stock is running low which is not the case. This is related to Giffen goods in economics.<br /><br />Thanks for commenting!David Chivershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04624675446164893647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7130783656461229914.post-89374111990024431542020-03-21T03:03:58.466-07:002020-03-21T03:03:58.466-07:00Isn't the issue here also the fact that people...Isn't the issue here also the fact that people are stockpiling because they have a very legitimate worry that they might have to self quarantine for a fortnight, and thus are trying to have enough food in for that eventuality?<br /><br />Also, as I understand it, there's only ever enough food in the system for a couple of weeks anyway. Out supply chains are long and brittle, so who knows what cascading failures we could see in the coming months. Yes the pictures of empty shelves in twitter don't help, but there's more than just that.<br /><br />Like, I think people are by and large acting rationally in an individual sense, but obviously this then leads to the classic prisoners dilemma in which we're now trapped. The only solutions to this are going to be either rationing or huge price increases.Samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08484749636800747122noreply@blogger.com