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As I penned this editorial in mid-May, the internet was abuzz with news and images of people in some parts of the US East Coast panic-buying large volumes of gasoline. The behavior was driven by the closure of the Colonial Pipeline, the largest petroleum artery in the US, after its operator was targeted by a ransomware attack perpetrated by Russian hackers. Although the pipeline was closed for less than a week, individuals filled both approved gasoline containers and improvised ones with gas in nervous anticipation of a dearth of the crucial resource.
Last year, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, shoppers similarly rushed to hoard obscene amounts of toilet paper and cleaning products, their consumer drive shifted into high gear by a looming catastrophe. As COVID-19 swept through communities and workplaces, infecting tens and then hundreds of thousands around the world and killing ...
