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I would rather the price 10x if it means people can buy toilet paper, than have it be unavailable to all. But I am thinking rationally rather than emotionally.
by seibelj 7y ago
I would rather the price 10x if it means people can buy toilet paper, than have it be unavailable to all. But I am thinking rationally rather than emotionally.
- sollewitt 7y agoTake face masks, that front line medical workers don't have, that their procurement offices won't let them buy for 10x - we are all screwed if all our nurses are sick. You are basically saying "I am ok pricing limited necessary resources up to where only I and people as rich as me can afford them".
- mrob 7y agoI'm in favor of attacking poverty directly, e.g. with UBI, rather than conscripting private sellers to act as an inefficient ad-hoc welfare system.
- maxerickson 7y agoToilet paper availability likely comes down to nothing more than distribution lag. One scenario is that a few people have taken advantage of low prices to hoard unreasonable amounts. A second scenario is that the number of people buying a reasonable amount exceeded the assumptions built into the distribution network. In the latter scenario, high prices pretty much go in the pocket of the retailer (and so on), and availability is still low. My intent isn't to try to characterize the second scenario as good or bad or okay or whatever, it's to point out a possibility that your comment doesn't address.
- gtyras2mrs 7y agoI don't believe that necessarily. I think people are not rational to think that "oh its too expensive" - I think they will still try to hoard it and speculate on prices going up to 15x. And so on and on until the crises ends or they end up with no place willing to sell it.