On Super Bowl Sunday, President Biden took to X (formerly Twitter) to skewer consumer brands for “shrinkflation,” a phenomenon where product vendors reduce package sizes without proportionally reducing price, in what essentially amounts to a per unit cost increase for consumers. The video explicitly calls out popular snack brands such as Breyers, Gatorade, and Tostitos— all food products that are likely on the top of consumers’ minds when thinking of inflation.
During this week’s Super Bowl ads, Biden slammed greedy corporations for inflation. In his most recent podcast, Peter explains exactly what’s happening with inflation, and why Biden’s blame game has it backward.
Inflation robs you of purchasing power by driving up the price of everything you buy. You see the impacts of inflation every time you go to the store. But sometimes inflation hits you in a more subtle way that’s difficult to see – through “shrinkflation.”
I experienced shrinkflation first-hand last weekend.
We are all keenly aware of price inflation. We notice those rising prices every time we go into a store. But the inflation boogeyman is hitting you even harder than you realize. Not only are you paying more for pretty much everything you buy, you’re getting less.
Literally.
It’s called shrinkflation.
The Consumer Price Index hit a 40-year-high of 7.9% in February. Of course, it’s even worse than that. The official government numbers are rigged to understate rising prices.
But inflation doesn’t just hit us with rising prices. In some cases, we pay more, but we get less. This is known as shrinkflation.
