Want to know how the U.S. economy is doing? Just ask Cookie Monster.
The U.S. economy is going through a challenging economic time right now. The division between those who have, and those who do not in this economy has never been greater. High income earners have only barely begun to feel the pinch of inflation, not taking into consideration idle chit-chat about the price of a gallon of milk or how expensive eggs have gotten while they wait in line to buy their $8 Lattes.
But when a blue Sesame Street character voices their displeasure with the economy people take notice.
These are truly strange times we live in.
In a post on Twitter, sorry I mean X, Cookie Monster lamented on a new economic trend that scholars have coined called “shrinkflation”, saying “Me hate shrinkflation! Me cookies are getting smaller,” Cookie Monster wrote. “Guess me going to have to eat double da cookies!”
Cookie Monster was referring to how he is interpreting the pain of high prices and an elevated cost of living, which has resulted in the very corporate sounding term “downsizing” of some consumer goods, but without their price dropping. Essentially, Cookie Monster is getting less cookies, but still paying the same.
Another less eloquent term for this cookie tragedy would be called highway robbery. Cookies Monster needs his cookies people!
The term “shrinkflation” was coined by the British economist Pippa Malmgren and is defined as “the process of items shrinking in size or quantity, or even sometimes reformulating or reducing quality, while their prices remain the same.” according to Wikipedia.
The most famous example of “shrinkflation” that we’ve all experienced is getting a big bag of your favorite chips, tearing it open, only to find it looks like it’s only been half filled. That’s shrinkflation! The price of the bag of chips remains the same, but the amount of chips you get shrunk.
And it’s not just chips, or cookies that are being affected.
In a December 2023 report from Democratic Sen. Bob Casey in December, using data from the Labor Department, found that a range of consumer goods including cleaning products, coffee and candies to sugar and frozen foods decreased in size last year. The most striking finding was that household paper products, think toilet paper, experienced the highest amount of shrinkflation.
It turns out the phenomenon of shrinkflation isn’t new, we just never had a catchy name to call it. Companies have always preferred to reduce the size of their products rather than to hike the price during times of high inflation to save money. It’s consumers that are left holding the short straw here.
With inflation slowing right now, some are asking the question: Are companies downsizing to boost profits, called “greedflation,”, or are they doing it because the cost of goods sold (COGS) have increased?
What does Cookie Monster think?
He just wants more cookies!
