Covid and Ideological Costs

I remember being in middle school and going shopping with my mom at the grocery store or the bookstore and her specifically avoiding products that said “Made in China”. I never really got the full picture on why she did this but I did understand that steering clear of Chinese goods meant paying a higher price. My mom was exhibiting one of the four economic biases discussed by Kaplan, anti-foreign bias. She added her disdain for goods that were made in China into her utility function which meant that when she was able to make purchases of goods made in the US/locally, her utility increased. 

We discussed in class how there are different levels of cost associated with acting ideologically. In a normal world, her costs are relatively low if the price difference is not significant between the two options. However, I have witnessed Covid increase the cost for my mom to act in line with her ideals. And, according to this article, she may not be alone. Many people are looking to cut spending because of loss of income or uncertainty due to the pandemic. Americans are looking to cheaper products as they lose their jobs or their wages are cut. Along with this, my mom has been much more careful about going out to regular stores because we live with my grandmother. This means sacrificing normal products for ones that can be shipped to our home - often the substitutes being made in China. Because of an increasing cost to act in line with her ideologies, she has ironically probably cut down on her spending.