Hacker News Reader

Comment by gopalv | Hacker News Reader

> need to discuss why major news outlets were parroting government propaganda that shortages and inflation were transitory

Because announcing there will be shortages is guaranteed to produce shortages.

I used to buy a sum total of six rolls of TP in 2019 (I use a bidet, so this is mainly for guests).

Right now I have a box of 24 in the house with two used all through 2020 + 2021 (no guests, that's why).

So that's 22+ rolls which I have taken off the market without utility, which is because the week I went looking for TP it wasn't there and you could order in bulk instead.

They pulled the lever on the trolley problem, therefore it is their fault, but not pulling is also a choice with damage.

View on HN

> They pulled the lever on the trolley problem, therefore it is their fault, but not pulling is also a choice with damage.

Ruining institutional trust by patronizing and lying seems like much worse long-term damage than toughing out a TP shortage.

Companies are in love with JIT, so they don't warehouse many products. When disruptions in the supply chain happen it's then up to the customers to do their warehousing for them.

There's a tax on inventory in warehouses. The government wants JIT too

Most states don't tax inventory.

https://taxfoundation.org/state-business-inventory-tax-2021/

Cool, never knew this having only worked in Texas. Both "phone maker" and "online retailer" had year-end efforts to reduce warehouse value before we took inventory. For retail it kind of works out okayish because it coincides with the holiday season, but for less elastic demand it puts an extra burden. I remember things like shifting inventory to a customer to have it returned after inventory.

> I remember things like shifting inventory to a customer to have it returned after inventory.

This seems like something that would have been obvious to outlaw when drafting the legislation for the tax.

Announcing "There will not be shortages" is equivalent to announcing "There will be shortages". The choice is more whether to call attention to the issue or not.

I don't think that misleading people for their own good is the news media's job. Some government officials may believe that it is theirs in certain situations, but I'm of the opinion that transparency is almost always the best policy in the long run.

Random aside - how do you dry off after using the bidet?

Some have heaters that blow dry air.

You use toilet paper, you'll just need way way less of it.

You can also use washable towels to pat dry.

I usually sequence it into the shower after that in my schedule (this is what I did in India growing up).

My partner uses the air-dryer that is in the bidet (~2018 Brondell Swash), but there's a bit of that feels very unhygienic to me & I'd rather just soap up right after.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com