Usually we don’t need to think about whether what we want to buy at the store will be in stock, but the COVID-19 pandemic proved that a major jolt in our economy can make it hard to find some of the things we need. Think about how hard it was to get toilet paper for a few weeks! These major disruptions are often the result of supply or demand shocks. In this report, Radio America’s Reagan Gensiejewski explains how these shocks happen, how they impact the availability and price of the products we buy, and different steps the government takes to try to fix the problems.