BERNIE: ‘WE MUST SEIZE THE MEANS OF TOILET PAPER PRODUCTION.’

From — who else? — America’s Newspaper of Record.

For a more serious look at the phenomenon: There’s Plenty of Toilet Paper in the U.S. So Why Are People Hoarding It?

Australia has also suffered from panic buying of toilet paper despite plentiful domestic supply. A risk expert in the country explained it this way: “Stocking up on toilet paper is … a relatively cheap action, and people like to think that they are ‘doing something’ when they feel at risk.”

This is an example of “zero risk bias,” in which people prefer to try to eliminate one type of possibly superficial risk entirely rather than do something that would reduce their total risk by a greater amount.

And note that Bernie would approve of the Babylon Bee’s satiric headline:

Americans aren’t alone in panic buying to ensure they have plenty of squares to spare. Venezuelans hoarded the commodity in 2013 as a result of a drop in production, leading the government to seize a toilet paper factory in an effort to ensure more supply. It failed to do the trick.

Unexpectedly.