And To Think...We Used To Make Fun Of Russia For Empty Shelves At The Store...

[SteyrAUG]

My Econ professor was a lady who grew up in Soviet Russia. She told us about getting an orange for Christmas and how excited each kid was to get an orange. For the most part they scrounged around for food, and things like fresh fruits and vegetables were very scarce.

I wouldn't put this situation anything close to the average Soviet food experience. We went maybe a week where TP was cleaned out. Cleaning supplies and alcohol get wiped out quick. For the most part you can still buy everything but have to hunt a little more and pay higher prices if you really need something.

People are correct that theres a shakeup in the distribution of goods because of all the people working from home or laid off, and that supply chains are built to be lean where theres not a lot of product just sitting around to fill gaps. Theres no giant warehouses full of goods just sitting there in storage ready to fill sudden surges in demand. That would cost a lot of money when common grocery store items are usually pretty low margin to begin with. They make money off volume so shit sitting in storage would quickly eat up margins or mean we pay quite a bit more for no reason other than stuff sitting around before we purchase those items.

This scenario is actually why quite a few firearm manufacturers and distributers have gone out of business. During panics people ramped up production and distribution capability just to see demand fall through the floor then they're stuck with an operation they can no longer afford. Better to work within your existing capability than trying to chase some quick sales that require investment and costs you may not be able to sustain in the future.

I get that and wasn't trying to draw a direct equivalence, just an ironic similarity, something we'd have scoffed at in the 70s if it happened anywhere else.

I also think it is mostly human psychology. People are almost at a complete loss for what to do or when to do it, so if they can stockpile 10 megapacks of toilet paper, the "feel" like they are somehow more prepared because they can't do anything about all of the other more serious threats.

And every time the "state of emergency" gets extended, they go and "panic buy" the grocery stores again. Had to go to three different places to complete a shopping list of 12 items. Not sure why one store would run completely out of sour cream but thankfully one of the smaller stores still had some.

People continue to annoy, confuse and frustrate me.

[Tim]

My Econ professor was a lady who grew up in Soviet Russia. She told us about getting an orange for Christmas and how excited each kid was to get an orange. For the most part they scrounged around for food, and things like fresh fruits and vegetables were very scarce.

How old was she?

It was a big deal to get a fresh orange for my parents' generation at Christmas as well - in the upper mid-west of the U.S - I've heard that same story, it is a logistics / transportation issue from that time not scarcity of oranges.