The Truth About The Toilet Paper Shortage | All In | MSNBC

Journalist Will Oremus took the time to look into the toilet paper shortage, and it turns out there is a good reason for it. Hint: it’s not the irrational hoarding of toilet paper. Aired on 04/07/2020.
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The Truth About The Toilet Paper Shortage | All In | MSNBC

95 comments

  1. Who here remembers traitor tRump tossing Bounty Quicker Picker Upper Paper Towels at our fellow Puerto Ricans?

    1. @Mark bodman I think you mean you’re, which is a contraction of the words you and are. Your means something that belongs to you.

  2. Are we using the same excuse for paper towels, napkins, hand soaps, sanitizer gel and Clorox wipes? Because we can’t get those either

    1. @Jlina A Like any corporation would do that without massive government payments to corporations to stimulate the eco… oh.

    2. @Daniel Burnley except that, as you can see from my comment, we can’t get paper towels or napkins or baby wipes – or anything else paper – either. So, yes, complicated

    3. @nickj12 …Have you tried going to a beauty supply store ?
      I actually got aloe vera gel there.

    1. @K. Johnson indeed, I think us demented types are in the majority and its not getting any better. Enjoy your day. Stay indoors, stay safe.. Toodle Pip bye bye.

    2. I can’t believe I’m watching this also; the crazy thing is I don’t believe this guy. It just doesn’t make sense

    1. Everytime I go to the grocery store these days, people do not keep 6 feet apart. It’s not a bad idea to stay home and avoid this stress visiting grocery stores

    2. @Cody Thankfully not at mine. I guess it’s determined by the overflow. But they do have a path outlined by upturned shopping carts and bright ribbon tape.

    3. Everybody thinks they are gordon ramsey all of a sudden. There is plenty of bread on the shelves no reason to stockpile flour.

  3. Please stop televising his “Briefings”. They are Proxy Rallies laced with Dangerous lies and misinformation. It’s tacit validation.

    1. @Elliott Alderson I’m blow away by your argument. But again when you have nothing to say I guess swearing is all you can master. Such a good Republican and Christian. Haha

    2. @Heather He did fail, he said it, is nothing to do with me, is nothing to worry , it will go away and he has no stock pile his words

    3. kreb7
      My regrets. I wish I hadn’t responded the way I did.
      We’ll both know who was right in November.

  4. The world’s most advanced market economy is so advanced that toilet paper is an issue 😂

    1. At first it was a problem, like week one but then stores started limiting and restocking faster but I live in Ontario Canada we have the same market issues as in this story but we’re having a different outcome.

    1. @Lorrie No. Lowe’s sells bidet attachments for your toilet. You can hook it up to the waterline yourself.

    2. I got a bidet last June before my shoulder surgery. (that or find out how much my wife really loves me) So yeah, love it, never going back.
      BTW No plumber needed. If you have a GFCI outlet and use an extension cored no electrical work either.

  5. That’s interesting that the US ran out of paper. When out here in Rome, Italy never did and we are all at home using the toilet. 🤷‍♀️

    1. @anthony roberts The TP is rationed where we are in GA. I do think it is a good idea to stock up. I stocked up in February. Many purchase for family members and friends when they find the TP.

    2. @KEIKO MAGAZINE TV China sends us 10 percent of toilet paper or more. Some people stocked up and then it was necessary to get some or you will not get any for yourself. Americans are trying to survive.

  6. “Everyone’s buying all the toilet paper”

    Also “sad my dad had to come to my house to get ten rolls”

    1. I love how many people are like “I go to this place and they sell 59 rolls in a pack so I buy a pack. It’s not hoarding”

      First of all, buying 59 of almost any product is at least borderline hoarding. Second, it was just funny that his dad had to come to his house just to get “10 extra rolls”. It it made me laugh. I dont care how much toilet paper anyone has, as long as they have some. Because if they dont have some….eew.

    2. @Iceberg Rose Sounds like you’re lucky over there. Here in Oz, where I live, despite saying they get deliveries every night the supermarket aisles for paper products are just as empty as they were in week one… Good luck to you and keep safe. 👍

    3. @Iceberg Rose LOL, thank you for the offer! I’m fine for now, but I am going to hang on to the old ‘yellow pages’, just in case…

  7. Can restaurants start adding things like toilet paper, paper towels, disinfectants, soap into their menus (as miscellaneous items) that we can buy with our takeout since they aren’t using them when dining rooms are closed? I would happily buy toilet paper with my takeout.

    1. You’re on to something, the suppliers to the commercial properties should be posting on Amazon or Facebook to sell to residential clientele.

  8. WHO : We have a virus that causes respiratory failure.
    America : Imma buy up all the toilet paper.

    1. @rpsimons58 Typical American so out of date about what is going on in the world. The Soviet Union as been gone for 30 years. You act as if it is still like that.

    2. @Harold Potsdamer You misunderstood my comment. I know the Soviet Union is gone, I was in Germany when the wall came down. I have a chunk of it as a souvenir. I was saying that our situation has gone downhill so bad that we find ourselves in similar state as the OLD Soviet Union of 30 years ago.

  9. This man said his dad came to get 10 rolls of toilet paper ? He’s been hording it too then 😂😂😂

    1. I live alone and buy it from Costco when it is in the savings booklet. Not really hoarding if you buy the same for a 2 person household.

    2. That means the man is thinking ahead. I had 120 rolls in December. Hording, no. Thinking ahead. He gave it to his father. So he is also taking care of his family. The problem is not the ppl who think ahead, it is the people who do not.

  10. It’s ironic when the US is trying to teach others about civility and democracy when they themselves are devoid of these characteristics

    1. Most don’t even know how money is made or how the federal reserve works….Sad truly sad.

    2. Mojazzz You know the toilet paper hoarding didn’t only happen in the U.S., right? I was hearing about it happening in Australia long before it started happening in the U.S.

    3. First of all, if you are talking about the hypocrisy of our federal government, i completely agree. If you are talking about our people, im not convinced we are any worse on average than anywhere else.

      Second, how was this your conclusion from the video debunking the hoarding hypothesis? We are low on TP because most people are being responsible citizens and staying home.

  11. People can’t steal the toilet paper from work and school anymore, so they have to buy their own.

    1. They just steal it from gas stations/convenient stores bathrooms. I work at one and have to lock the bathroom door, just to make sure no one is stealing the toilet paper,paper towels and even the soap. One person even stole the air freshener < starts with a G> that I put Under the toilet tank.

    1. Ppl who do serious coupon shopping have closets and storage units full of the items we can’t find now. They put together “pkgs” of various items including toilet paper, fabric softener, shampoo, dishwashing liquid, household cleaners, etc. and resale them at massive profits and it’s legal. Trust me when I tell you they cleaned many toilet paper shelves because they already had the coupons for those items. I’ve seen them go into a store get $94 worth of products and pay no more than $13 for everything. m I have one friend in Detroit who purchased $127 worth and paid $7.24! I’ve purchased $83.98 and paid $10.21. That’s at one store. Then you go to another store with your coupons and repeat the process. That’s how many ppl stocked up and doubled down when this virus hit. They saw this coming. So did I but I no longer coupon. Same goes for the gloves n masks. I haven’t been able to find Charmin anywhere!

    2. Yes, but most bought that year’s worth a month ago, and likely have as much as they need by now. The persistent emptiness of shelves can’t be explained by hoarding alone.

    3. @J W They’re buying it to resale is my point. It’s not just about what they need at all. Many of them started increasing the amount they purchase two months ago. I know because I also coupon. Yes they absolutely do hoard! I mean to imply the empty shelves were due to them alone but they were a big part of it before stores began limiting the amount you can buy. You can buy coupons in bulk and I’ve even known couponers who dumpster dive for them. When you can go into a store and purchase $98 worth of stuff and pay less than $15 for it, why wouldn’t you? I would still be doing it if I could. But in times like these you couldn’t pay me to do that now. Have a great evening.

    4. James Lade there’s probably people who had it hoarded before the pandemic and are laughing at those who are panicking.

    5. But the point – which you obviously totally missed – is that the shelves have not been restocked. Did you even watch the video?

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