As a follow up to my August post about the coin shortage, I must clarify that the toilet paper shortage is probably over; I base this conclusion on having just returned home with a pack of 'unbleached bamboo tissue' which claims to be 'sustainable, durable, eco-friendly, and non-toxic'. (Amusingly, none of these descriptors will apply once I use the product; same shit, different toilet paper.)
Anyway, the interesting thing about the bamboo toilet paper is that it cost about as much as regular toilet paper. I'm sure sometime in the next year or two I will read some pop-economics book that uses this as an argument for why the shortage was actually a good thing, and an example of soaring economic theory in full flight - the shortage spurred innovation, which lowered the cost profiles for alternate products, which means we all pay less for toilet paper, plus it's better for the environment, on and on and on. Why reader, this book might even stretch the comparison by suggesting this process will play out on a larger scale and eventually solve climate change, and all we have to do is supply and demand - great!
Luckily, I'll be here to remind folks that although the toilet paper shortage was indeed intellectually interesting for the able-bodied folks who could afford to buy in bulk, for many the shortage was another difficult chapter in a challenging life; I'm not sure if I'll add that such lives are needlessly complicated anytime our so-called intellectuals ignore the human suffering that is often the makeweight which balances the relationship between theory and practice.
