“Of all the shortages we have – there’s a gasoline shortage – you know what else is disappearing from the supermarket shelves?” a television presenter jokes. “Toilet paper.”
Shops emptied of loo roll are now linked to the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, but that line was delivered by the US late-night host Johnny Carson more than 50 years ago.
It was December 1973, two months after the outbrea...
The strongest version of this narrative is that panic buying is a predictable, psychologically driven response to perceived scarcity, exacerbated by media amplification and social contagion. The article effectively traces historical patterns—from the 1973 oil crisis to Covid-19—showing how fear of shortages becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. It also highlights the inefficacy of shaming or direct appeals to stop panic buying, instead advocating for messaging that reinforces collective responsibi...