As most of you reading this are probably well aware, the insidious tax that is inflation can come in many shapes and sizes. The two main ways that it is manifested in our everyday lives is via price increases and shrinking portion sizes/lower quality. I have noticed a lot of both in recent months but it is becoming apparent to me that the shrinking portion strategy has taken off into the stratosphere, at least for me in my everyday life.
It is this latter method of passing on inflation that really drives me up the wall. While transparent price increases are clearly annoying, at least it is fairly clear to the consumer and he or she understands what has happened and that there may or may not be an economic choice at hand. In the case of shrinking portion sizes, the price signal is much more subtle if present at all. You may notice yourself going back to the grocery store more often but that might be all you recognize at first. It is especially hard to notice in the early phases of inflation when the package size may shrink by 3% and the price increase 2% for example. It’s only in the intermediate stages of the inflation that you really start to notice you are being screwed. I believe we have entered that phase.
Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G
Follow me on Twitter.
