This weekend, President Joe Biden released a video message condemning what’s known as shrinkflation, which involves companies making the sizes of their products smaller without concurrent drops in price. It’s what happens when instead of a food item going up in price by a generally substantial amount, the size of what’s being offered shrinks.
“I’ve had enough of what they call shrinkflation,” Biden said, referring to the phenomena. “It’s a rip-off. Some companies are trying to pull a fast one by shrinking the products little by little and hoping you won’t notice. Give me a break. The American public is tired of being played for suckers. […] Let’s make sure businesses do the right thing now.”
Inflation — the general rate at which prices rise — has been a consistent talking point as this year’s elections have approached, though the overall rates of inflation actually have generally fallen. In other words, prices have risen less quickly. Data from the federal Labor Department pinned the overall rate of inflation across the 12 months ending in December of last year at just 3.4 percent. The price of gasoline across all types actually fell by nearly two percent over the same period, even though Donald Trump keeps pushing a narrative of American decline.
“EVERYTHING ELSE IS TERRIBLE (WATCH THE MIDDLE EAST!), AND RECORD SETTING INFLATION HAS ALREADY TAKEN ITS TOLL,” Trump said on his knock-off social media site Truth Social last month. He tried taking credit for current success in the stock market, tying the boosts to supposed confidence from investors in his unfolding campaign for president. Polls around the 2024 race are, however, very, very far off from consistent predictions of a winner.
The Biden administration has pursued inflation-targeting policies including boosts to domestic manufacturing, tax benefits taking some of the edge off when prices do rise, involvement in solving supply chain issues, and releases from the national Strategic Petroleum Reserve meant to help boost supplies of gasoline.
