What are pandemic-induced supply shocks?

A pandemic-induced supply shock is when a big event, like a pandemic, suddenly messes up how things are made and sent to stores.

Imagine you have a lemonade stand, and all of your friends who help you make lemonade get sick and stay home. Suddenly, you can’t make as much lemonade as before. That’s like a supply shock, it's when the amount of something you can make or bring to people goes down quickly.

Think of it like a traffic jam on your way to school. Usually, you can get there in 10 minutes, but one day, there’s an accident, and it takes 30 minutes. That’s like a supply shock, something unexpected slows things down.

During the pandemic, many people got sick or had to stay home, so factories couldn’t make as much stuff as usual. This meant fewer toys, less food, and even fewer clothes in stores, just like if your lemonade stand could only make half the lemonade it usually does.