Just a slight update on this thought if others have not yet seen it. This morning I read a news story about how panic buying in Italy (not sure if it was in the infection area but suspect that would make more sense) emptying all the shelves in stores.
Now, I did not investigate further (or read the full story, obviously) but we probably should not under estimate the potential here. It doesn’t seem irrational to expect irrational behavior in a crisis situation—or even a situation a lot of people fear.
Just a slight update on this thought if others have not yet seen it. This morning I read a news story about how panic buying in Italy (not sure if it was in the infection area but suspect that would make more sense) emptying all the shelves in stores.
Now, I did not investigate further (or read the full story, obviously) but we probably should not under estimate the potential here. It doesn’t seem irrational to expect irrational behavior in a crisis situation—or even a situation a lot of people fear.
A rational egoist should end his panic buying before other people start panicing :)