Just three months ago, a major oil distributor faces a cyber-security threat that halted their production and distribution of gasoline, and reduced the supply of gas along the eastern coast. People were lined up to get gas in their cars, some even going to the extent of filling containers that were not meant to hold gasoline. Some of you may have participated in the frenzy. Others watched from a distance. In hindsight, the shortage was relatively short lived, and much of it exacerbated by our own actions. (Look up the phrase self-
Just three months ago, a major oil distributor faces a cyber-security threat that halted their production and distribution of gasoline, and reduced the supply of gas along the eastern coast. People were lined up to get gas in their cars, some even going to the extent of filling containers that were not meant to hold gasoline. Some of you may have participated in the frenzy. Others watched from a distance.
In hindsight, the shortage was relatively short lived, and much of it exacerbated by our own actions. (Look up the phrase self-fulfilling prophecy, and you’ll understand what I mean!)
A friend of yours, one who lives in a mixed use development near where he works and drives an electric car, thought the behavior of those lining up at the pumps was irrational. After all, people were burning gas waiting in long lines to get gas.
- To what extent does the evidence support the claim that people were behaving irrationally?
- Are there other ways to explain the rush for gasoline without assuming people are irrational? (You need a paragraph for each explanation, so think about how each idea might affect supply and demand. You might consider, too, the effects of government regulations preventing price gouging.)
- What additional information would we need to better evaluate this situation?
Remember that it should be written well but is NOT a research paper.
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