Inflation? What Inflation?

From here:

Major food producers like Sara Lee Corp., Kraft Foods, General Mills and ConAgra Foods are dropping discounts and upping food prices by 6% to 10% at the stores.

Posted in * Culture-Watch, * Economics, Politics, Consumer/consumer spending, Corporations/Corporate Life, Dieting/Food/Nutrition, Economy, Federal Reserve, Personal Finance, The U.S. Government

4 comments on “Inflation? What Inflation?

  1. BlueOntario says:

    One complaint over CPI, COL, and other inflationary indices is that they fail to effectively account for “stealth inflation” such as shrinking packaging (a one pound package shrinks to 14 ounces, then 12, or the metric equivalents) or hidden fees. Sometimes the indices are trying to hit a moving target: shopping at Costco vs. shopping at Walmart vs. shopping at the regional supermarket chain vs. shopping at the corner gas’emup. Sales, markups before “sales,” etc. Sometimes they are just junk statistics.

    The man and woman in the streets can tell you when things aren’t what they were. They should be listened to.

  2. sophy0075 says:

    Anyone who doesn’t believe in inflation must not own a gasoline-powered automobile.

  3. Ad Orientem says:

    People need to stop drinking the government’s Kool-Aid. They lie through their teeth on almost any subject from unemployment (it’s a little over 17% not 9%) to inflation (it’s really close to 9%). See this chart.
    http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_data/inflation-charts

    That site is probably the best one I know of if you want to get accurate figures on the economy and government budgets etc. Unfortunately only some of it is free.

  4. Teatime2 says:

    Blue Ontario,
    That practice is making me so angry! The prices are going up and the quantity is going down. Rather than 16-ounce packages of common items, we’re seeing 12, 10, and 9 ounces. Dog food bags are especially bad — they used to be 20 lbs. and now they’re 17.6 lbs. (How in the world did they derive THAT number?)

    I guess they think that most people don’t notice. Well, I do, as a disabled person on a very tight budget. I have cut my expenses down to the bare bones to deal with no cost-of-living adjustments while the price of necessities such as food and medical care continue to go up. Taxes and mandatory insurances increase regularly, too. It’s getting very scary.