No, you don't need to hoard toilet paper to prep for a pandemic (Popular Science)
By Jay L. Zagorsky/The Conversation
March 15, 2020
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The new coronavirus is inspiring panic buying of a variety of household products such as toilet paper in cities across the US and world.
While it makes sense to me that masks and hand sanitizer would be in short supply because of the outbreak, I wondered why people would be hoarding toilet paper—a product that is widely produced and doesn’t help protect from a respiratory virus like COVID-19. Toilet paper is becoming so valuable there’s even been at least one armed robbery.
As an economist, I am fascinated by why people hoard products that are not having supply problems. Toilet paper hoarding in particular has a curious history and economy.
Past panics
This wouldn’t be the first panic over toilet paper.
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This is an example of “zero risk bias,” in which people prefer to try to eliminate one type of possibly superficial risk entirely rather than do something that would reduce their total risk by a greater amount.
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more: https://www.popsci.com/story/health/toilet-paper-coronavirus-hoarding/