Thursday, March 10, 2016

Expensive toilet paper


Inequality has its impact in so many ways, many big ways, many small ways….

Take toilet paper.

Of course you do. Everybody does.

It’s a classic commodity product: easily made, relatively inexpensive, easily transported, non-perishable, available everywhere, one size fits all, there is predictable universal need and predictable consumption, goes with any décor, more or less a unitary product (let’s not squabble about one-ply or two-ply).

Why do poor people spend more for toilet paper than their more affluent fellow citizens?

Hint: when was the last time you bought the 20-pack of toilet paper when the big sale was on?

Poorer folks—who are, inter alia, cash poor—don’t have enough ready money to buy the 20-pack when it’s on sale. They are more likely to repeatedly buy another roll or two when they have need. They are more likely to pay “regular” price.


Emily Badger of The Washington Post reports that poorer folks pay about 6% more for toilet paper.

One legal way the rich get richer is by filling the cart with t.p. when it’s on sale.










Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2016 All rights reserved.

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