THERE’S DEFINITELY SHRINKAGE. ‘Shrinkflation:’ The Latest Consequence of Reckless Federal Spending, Explained.

We already know that top inflation metrics have recently surged, and executives at companies like Costco are warning that price hikes are hurting their customers. Now, there’s a new inflation consequence hitting consumers: “Shrinkflation.”

I’d never heard the term before today, but new reporting from the Washington Post explains how some companies are dealing with inflation in their supply costs by shrinking the sizes of their products, to avoid the customer backlash that comes with raising sticker prices.

“Consumers are paying more for a growing range of household staples in ways that don’t show up on receipts — thinner rolls, lighter bags, smaller cans — as companies look to offset rising labor and materials costs without scaring off customers,” the Post reports. “It’s a form of retail camouflage known as ‘shrinkflation,’ and economists and consumer advocates who track packaging expect it to become more pronounced as inflation ratchets up, taking hold of such everyday items such as paper towels, potato chips and diapers.”

“Shrinkflation” has been going on for quite some time — the portmanteau has its own Wikipedia page listing “shrinkflated” food products going back a decade — but watch for the trend to accelerate in the Biden era. Perhaps shrinkflation even explains the weird optics showing the giant Bidens next to Mr. Inflation himself: