Buzz
Since the global economy took a downturn in 2008, things have been quite challenging. Greece has been on the brink of collapse for some time, and several other European countries have been following closely behind. Brazil has seen protests over government corruption, while Ukraine is embroiled in full-scale war. Yet, there are numerous other, even more peculiar crises that can strike an entire country.
10. The Norwegian Butter Shortage
The Norwegian Butter Crisis of 2011 was caused by a mix of a decreased supply and a spike in demand. After heavy summer rainfall, demand soared by 20% in October and another 30% the following month. By mid-December, just before Christmas, the price of a butter pack surged to 300 Krone, or $50.
Those fortunate enough to have butter capitalized on the shortage. People began auctioning butter online, with prices reaching $100 for 450 grams (1 lb). Just across the border, Swedish supermarkets saw butter sales increase by 2,000%, most of it being bought by visiting Norwegians. A few Swedes were even caught attempting to smuggle 250 kilograms (550 lb) into the country.
In the aftermath, retailers demanded compensation for $7 million in losses.
9. The 1973 Toilet Paper Panic
In December 1973, Johnny Carson startled Americans by mentioning a looming toilet paper shortage. Gullible consumers rushed to stock up, and several stores capitalized on the panic by hiking their prices. Fortunately, the crisis was largely resolved the following night when Carson went on air to reveal that it had all been a joke. However, this wasn't the only toilet paper shortage of 1973.
Meanwhile, across the Pacific, Japan became anxious due to the Arab-Israeli War. As Japan depended heavily on oil from the Middle East, one of their ministers appeared on television on October 31 and urged citizens to use paper sparingly. This was the worst thing he could have done.
The very next day, hundreds of people lined up outside an Osaka supermarket and emptied its shelves of toilet paper. As news of this spread, others began doing the same. On November 2, another official pleaded for calm, assuring the public that there was enough toilet paper for everyone in the country. This only intensified the panic, and soon the entire nation was hoarding as much toilet paper as possible.
By the time the crisis subsided, most people had stockpiled at least a year's worth of toilet paper. Despite this, the human memory can be strange, and those who recall the incident often remember it as a time of scarcity, with scarcely a roll to be found.
8. The American Meat Shortage
The American meat shortage of 1910 was a result of declining native animal populations, compounded by a rapidly growing human population. While the prospect of a meat shortage in the US was already unusual, one plan to address the crisis stood out. Two men envisioned fulfilling the nation's appetite by establishing a hippopotamus farm in Louisiana.
Louisiana was facing its own peculiar problem. The Japanese water hyacinth, introduced during a cotton exhibition, had escaped and began blocking waterways. Congressman Robert Broussard caught wind of the hippo plan from explorer Frederick Burnham, who suggested that hippos would happily devour the hyacinths. He passed a bill to secure $250,000 to bring the plan to life.
The Department of Agriculture believed that beef would be a better solution. They expanded the land available for raising conventional cattle, including many of the swamps that would have housed the much larger African hippos. However, the idea of eating hippos still had its supporters in the 1960s, when Popular Science stated that the “particularly delicious and not at all fatty” meat could help alleviate food shortages in North Africa.
7. Myanmar's Paranoia About Cash
Myanmar is a nation in desperate need of economic growth. However, it is also a place where almost no one trusts banks, and even fewer people are willing to rely on ATMs. In fact, the country's first ATM didn't appear until 2013.
For many years, international sanctions against Myanmar's military dictatorship kept Visa and MasterCard from establishing their services. Banks were notoriously corrupt, and people often had to bribe employees just to access their own money.
As a result, fewer than 10 percent of the population has a bank account. Instead, people carry their cash with them. But the situation goes deeper: Individuals won’t accept bills that are even slightly damaged. Any crease, tear, or ink stain may lead to a refusal to take a note. People often press their cash between books to smooth it out.
As Myanmar moves toward democracy, the country is making efforts to encourage its citizens to embrace the banking system. Though there are some signs of progress, there is still a long way to go.
6. The Hungarian Hyperinflation
Inflation is one of the most common economic issues a country can face. Hyperinflation is more uncommon but still happens with some regularity. Inflation in 1920s Germany peaked at an astounding 32,400 percent per month. However, the hyperinflation in Hungary between 1945 and 1946 surpassed that, reaching an unbelievable one trillion times the inflation rate in Weimar Germany.
The crisis began in 1945, but by the peak of inflation in 1946, prices were doubling every 15.6 hours. In January 1946, the government replaced the pengo with a new currency, the adopengo, which was worth several trillion times more than the original. The pengo remained in circulation, continually losing value, until it became impossible to buy anything with a 100-million-pengo note. The highest denomination printed reached 100 quadrillion pengo.
Loose, worthless bills accumulated in the streets. By the time the crisis ended, the combined value of every note in circulation across the entire country was worth less than a single American cent.
On August 1, 1946, the Hungarian government introduced the forint. It was valued at the equivalent of 400,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 pengo. The new currency was backed by gold and foreign currencies, ensuring it was stable enough to endure to this day.
5. Switzerland's Economy Is Too Robust
Since the 2008 financial crisis, nearly every country has faced severe economic challenges. However, Switzerland emerged from the financial collapse remarkably unscathed. As the Eurozone struggled, Switzerland's economy maintained low debt, low unemployment, and strong exports.
Having the most resilient economy in the region might not seem like an issue. However, Switzerland is still part of the broader global economy, and its success inadvertently made the country a victim of its own prosperity. Currency traders, seeking a stable investment, flocked to Swiss francs, which increased the currency’s value by 30 percent compared to the Euro.
An inflated franc made Swiss exports more costly, negatively impacting Swiss businesses. Negative inflation also led to other adverse effects, including significantly raising the real cost of citizens' fixed debts.
To counter this, the government had to artificially devalue their currency, a scenario they would have avoided had they simply managed their economy as poorly as other European nations.
4. Penis Panic
Koro is a collective delusion where people believe their genitals are either shrinking or have been completely stolen. It has affected entire communities in various African nations, with groups of men claiming their penises are shrinking. They often resort to using strings or metal clamps to pull their genitals outside their bodies until a shaman can intervene.
The thefts are usually blamed on witches. In 2008, in Congo, rumors spread that individuals wearing gold rings in public taxis were performing penis theft spells on unsuspecting passengers. The story quickly became a popular topic on local radio. However, the real issue wasn’t the panic itself—it was the reaction. The Congo police had to arrest 13 suspected sorcerers and 14 victims after the latter attacked the alleged thieves in a mob.
It was probably a reasonable response. In a similar incident in Ghana in the 1990s, 12 men accused of penis theft were beaten to death by crowds. In Nigeria, 12 people were killed in 2001, and five died in Benin in the same year.
The Congo police chief voiced his frustration, saying, “When you try to tell the victims that their penises are still there, they insist it’s become smaller or that they’ve become impotent. To that, I ask them, ‘How do you know if you haven’t gone home and checked it?’”
3. Lab Mice Shortage
The fire was immediately labeled “a national disaster” by the laboratory’s officials. Numerous ongoing experiments had to be scrapped, as switching suppliers would have distorted the results. The Mayo Clinic, one of the affected institutions, had to delay tests on an arthritis medication. The fire's ripple effect impacted researchers globally, as Jackson Laboratory supplied 40,000 mice per week to 11,200 labs.
The Jackson Laboratory faced an estimated $40 million in damages, but insurance covered only $15 million. In spite of receiving unsolicited donations, including $750,000 from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the laboratory appealed to Congress for $25 million to rebuild and ensure the continuity of vital medical research.
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2. Operation Pig Bristle
In 1944, the Australian government launched a scheme aimed at building new houses to meet the growing demand. However, just a few years into the project, a peculiar issue arose: a severe shortage of paintbrushes. Even more problematic was the lack of pig bristles, which were essential for making the brushes, and the only available source was China.
At that time, China was embroiled in a civil war, making the import process difficult. The Royal Australian Air Force was tasked with obtaining 20 tons of pig bristles from Chongqing. The mission, named “Operation Pig Bristle,” began in May and took five months to complete.
At the time, China was in the middle of a civil war, and getting imports was pretty difficult. The Royal Australian Air Force received the task of acquiring 20 tons of pig bristles from Chongqing. The mission was launched in May with the fitting title of “Operation Pig Bristle,” and it took five months to complete the work.
1. Korea’s Kimchi Crisis
Kimchi is South Korea’s most important food, almost revered as a national treasure. It accompanies every meal, and in restaurants, it’s provided for free, much like ketchup in the United States. Therefore, when Napa cabbage, the key ingredient, saw its price surge by nearly 500 percent in just one month in 2010, it created a major crisis. The spike led to a kimchi shortage, which was dubbed 'a national tragedy' and 'a once-in-a-century crisis' by the press.
The shortage was triggered by a combination of heavy rains and a smaller harvest following a bumper crop the previous year. In response, some people resorted to stealing cabbages. In one province, a group of men were arrested for attempting to steal 400 of them. The price of cabbage became so inflated that people began calling the sauce 'keum-chi,' with 'keum' meaning gold.
In response, the government temporarily lifted import tariffs on cabbage and radishes. Showing solidarity with the public, the president pledged to eat only lower-quality cabbage, sourced from Europe and the United States. Meanwhile, local governments started offering subsidized cabbage, prompting long lines of people waiting for up to half an hour to collect their share.
