Toilet paper shortages, mask shortages, and cleaning supply shortages are old news now. The pandemic and the lockdowns have spurred a second and third wave of shortages.

This is not normal in America. Our free market economy has typically prevented or curtailed shortages because once demand outstrips supply, the price system gives producers and distributors extra incentive to stock the shelves. We think of command economies when we think of shortages. The bread line in Russia is the standard image.