海角大神

It鈥檚 an old ploy for inflationary times. When costs go up, don鈥檛 boost the price, shrink the package. It happened back in the 1970s when inflation seemed out of control. And it鈥檚 happening again.聽

础苍听 details how boxes of Cocoa Puffs and Cheerios are getting lighter 鈥� 18.1 ounces, down from 19.3 ounces 鈥� but the price is staying the same. When a colleague posted the story on an internal chat space, Monitor staffers had their own stories of 鈥渟hrinkflation鈥� over the years: Triscuits, orange juice, and Pepperidge Farm cookies. It鈥檚 not just food of course. Prices are rising across the board.

American consumers are starting to notice. Inflation in June surged 5.4% from a year earlier, the biggest rise in 13 years. Takeout food and energy prices, which jump around a lot, and so-called core inflation rose at a rate not seen in 30 years.

Inflation is becoming a top-of-mind public concern, . That raises what may be an important question of balance in the world鈥檚 largest economy. Federal Reserve policymakers have thought a bit more inflation is tolerable now because the economy spent a dozen years undershooting their . But public worries can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. If people lose confidence in monetary stability, they will act in a way that reinforces inflation.

The 1970s are talking to us. From a cereal box.