It’s the 1970s all over again in the era of the Biden administration.
Violence in the Middle East? Check.
Energy shortages? Check.
Double-digit inflation? Check.
Shrinkflation? Check.
What the heck is shrinkflation? I’ll explain.
Shrinkflation is a means of masking rising prices in consumer goods by giving you less product for the same amount of money as before.
The general public tends to get rightly frosted when they see the price of their favorite sugary cereal go from $3.99 per box to $4.99 – especially when the family budget is already getting pummeled from government-induced double-digit inflation.
The solution? Give consumers 18.9 ounces of Frosted Flakes instead of 19.3 ounces. Voila! Prices stay the same and you get the added benefit of additional shelf space in your pantry. #Blessed
The thing about shrinkflation is that it tends to be permanent – not transitionary.
Granola bars were bigger 10 years ago than they are today by roughly 5%. Charmin “Mega Rolls” used to be the standard size. A tube of Colgate has gone from 8.2 ounces to 8.0 ounces, and the company had to audacity to claim on the packaging that consumers are getting 33% more for their money.
Food and toiletries aren’t the only areas where shrinkflation is rearing its ugly head. Wood flooring, for example, now features less hardwood!
Bags of Scott’s Earthgro Mulch is now 25% less likely to cause lower-back issues.
And as if stepping on a random Lego didn’t hurt bad enough, those little foot impalers are getting smaller too.
Just like inflation, shrinkflation is a hidden tax on the American people – especially the poor and middle-class. It’s a means of masking the inevitable effects of our government’s out-of-control spending measures.
The tragic irony is that the very people who are impacted the most by this reboot of the 1970s economy are the very same ones who overwhelmingly put Joe Biden in office. Stellar move, Biden voters.
But hey, at least no one earning less than $400,000 per year will pay “a penny more” in taxes this year. “Millionaires and billionaires” are footing the bill.
What a crock.
