What's inflating in the U.S. basket?

[doom&gloom]

That f*****g liar Bernanke must not use any of these products, especially those that add to cognitive brain power.

http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2012...er-basket.html

[jiimbergin]

Re: What's inflating in the U.S. basket?

That f*****g liar Bernanke must not use any of these products, especially those that add to cognitive brain power.

http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2012...er-basket.html

Everytime we buy something at the store that is in a smaller size for the same or greater price, my wife and I say "and there is no inflation"

[Starving Steve]

Re: What's inflating in the U.S. basket?

I noticed everything is getting smaller in the supermarket too, and both in supermarkets in Canada and America.... It reminds me of Alice in Wonderland's shrunken world. What was her world called? Lilliputen? I think she was in a childhood dream, and when I walk into the supermarket now, I feel like it's a dream, too.... Even processed food shipped up from Mexico has been shrunk....

Ketchup bottles shrunk down to the size of the old picante sauce bottles, and the new picante (or enchilada) sauce bottles now are not much bigger than perfume bottles.... A king size candy bar, marked in silvery bold letters "king size" as if it was a bargain, is now not much larger than the old chocolate candy bars on sale for five-cents in the 1950s.... Remember, Halloween in the 1950s, and you would get those 5c chocolate candy bars as a Halloween treat?

It's all a childhood dream, but it's absolutely real now. When I checked-out, even the people in line were in shock. The store manager was laughing during the check-out when I picked-up the new "king size" chocolate bar and showed him the new "king size" version of 2012.

Even the cans of soup have been shrunk. Sticks of butter, shrunk. Even some of the produce has been miniturized: oranges are now offered that are not much bigger than the size of a small potato, i.e, the size of a small cooking potato you might use along side a roast in your oven. Lemons are now on sale that are not much larger than the size of an apricot. And apricots are now on sale that are the size of a walnut; walnuts are now on sale that are about the size of a grape, etc.

Coffee cans are lighter; there is more air in the cans--- an old trick that was seen in the Jimmy Carter days in the 1970s. Milk cartons are skinneyer.... But trout is still the old size and the same old price. Chickens have not been shrunk yet, and their price is the same as before. Loaves of bread are still the same old size, so far and on sale at roughly the same old price. Cakes are smaller, though.... Again, a good price, but the cakes have been down-sized. (Hilarious!)

This is an amazing story of what happens in a modern economy when central bank monetary policy has been too loose and for too long.

[Shakespear]

Re: What's inflating in the U.S. basket?

I noticed everything is getting smaller in the supermarket too, and both in supermarkets in Canada and America.... It reminds me of Alice in Wonderland's shrunken world. What was her world called? Lilliputen? I think she was in a childhood dream, and when I walk into the supermarket now, I feel like it's a dream, too.... Even processed food shipped up from Mexico has been shrunk....

Good obervation Steve. Yesterday I bought some chocolate cookies and I am dead certain that they are smaller and lighter (more air bubbles in dough). The price now is nearly 100 % higher than 3-4 years ago. I wish I had some of the old wrappers to check what the package weight was in the past.

The trend you see I see also.

Another one I have noticed is t-shirts and such. They tear so much easier now then say 10-15 yrs. ago. I am not pumping iron so body size can not be the issue. My guess I am buying the cheaper version of Calvin Klein then the one you would find in Bloomingdale's.

[charliebrown]

Re: What's inflating in the U.S. basket?

Have you been "Hulking out" lately over Zirp

[don]

Re: What's inflating in the U.S. basket?

Here in NorCal gas went from $4.01 to $4.19 in a couple of hours yesterday. This windfall piles on to the general inflation in a region of total car dependency.

[davidstvz]

Re: What's inflating in the U.S. basket?

Good obervation Steve. Yesterday I bought some chocolate cookies and I am dead certain that they are smaller and lighter (more air bubbles in dough). The price now is nearly 100 % higher than 3-4 years ago. I wish I had some of the old wrappers to check what the package weight was in the past.

The trend you see I see also.

Another one I have noticed is t-shirts and such. They tear so much easier now then say 10-15 yrs. ago. I am not pumping iron so body size can not be the issue. My guess I am buying the cheaper version of Calvin Klein then the one you would find in Bloomingdale's.

I've been keeping an eye on the caloric content of my favorite processed foods. I was thinking I've keeping a spreadsheet with price, net-weight, caloric content and a general impression of whether quality had been compromised in some unquantifiable way. But it was too much work to keep up with.

[lektrode]

Re: What's inflating in the U.S. basket?

over 4bux in HNL, upto/over 4.50 on the outer isles.
was under 3bux on the low end in SLC over the weekend tho...
but the real price boost is in processed foods at the markets: oscar meyer bacon at 9.50/lb at safeway here
or how about 7.50/lb for the 'premium' hotdogs? and the 'regular' price of produce i dont even want to talk about...
costco's top sirloin is running about 4.50 here, last eye saw and down recently, but doesnt seem to be quite as good as it used to be...

[Starving Steve]

Re: What's inflating in the U.S. basket?

Large artichokes, the size that are a meal by themselves and are about the diametre of a softball, used to cost 99cents a couple of years ago..... Remember? Then they went to $ 1.29. Now and almost overnight: $3.49. But 99c still buys something: an artichoke smaller than the diametre of a baseball but still larger than the diametre of a golf ball. Those latter artichokes are good for an afternoon snack, but certainly not a lunch.

So now Bernanke is at an impass: If he raises rates to quell (choke-off) the inflation that is now just beginning to show up in groceries and gasoline, he risks killing the economic recovery.... This is always the point where the idiots running the central banks choose to still keep interest rates as low as possible, yet print more money to continue the recovery. This is the point where the de-flation turns into a good old-fashioned inflation.

The beginning of the inflation is called a re-flation, because it sounds better (more soothing) to the public. Remember the, "Some inflation is good for the economy," line from Arthur Burns at the Federal Reserve? Remember the run on gold and the gold window being closed in 1971? And then the re-flation quickly accelerated into the full-blown, out of control inflation. Remember?

We saw this sequence of events happen after every recession before, especially after the 1970-1973 recession. Remember? And then the stagflation began; Jimmy Carter was elected; the inflation accelerated, etc. Paul Volcker replaced Burns at the Fed. The public was in a panic worldwide. Remember the few days of 23.5 % interest rates being offered on 90-day term deposits for savers at the Bank of Nova Scotia in Canada? And who could forget the short but very deep recession which followed?

Latin American central banks were also following this insane Keynesian economics at the time. Remember their hyper-inflations and panics?

Students: walk-out of your economics classes.

Remember Alan Greenspan replacing Volcker at the Fed? Remember the real estate bubble afterward? And now comes Bernanke and the new, "some inflation is good for the economy," line. Here we are now, in the Great Recession, and now at the classic decision point.

[doom&gloom]

Re: What's inflating in the U.S. basket?

There is only ONE thing Central Banksters know...

[metalman]

Re: What's inflating in the U.S. basket?

I noticed everything is getting smaller in the supermarket too, and both in supermarkets in Canada and America.... It reminds me of Alice in Wonderland's shrunken world. What was her world called? Lilliputen? I think she was in a childhood dream, and when I walk into the supermarket now, I feel like it's a dream, too.... Even processed food shipped up from Mexico has been shrunk....

Ketchup bottles shrunk down to the size of the old picante sauce bottles, and the new picante (or enchilada) sauce bottles now are not much bigger than perfume bottles.... A king size candy bar, marked in silvery bold letters "king size" as if it was a bargain, is now not much larger than the old chocolate candy bars on sale for five-cents in the 1950s.... Remember, Halloween in the 1950s, and you would get those 5c chocolate candy bars as a Halloween treat?

It's all a childhood dream, but it's absolutely real now. When I checked-out, even the people in line were in shock. The store manager was laughing during the check-out when I picked-up the new "king size" chocolate bar and showed him the new "king size" version of 2012.

Even the cans of soup have been shrunk. Sticks of butter, shrunk. Even some of the produce has been miniturized: oranges are now offered that are not much bigger than the size of a small potato, i.e, the size of a small cooking potato you might use along side a roast in your oven. Lemons are now on sale that are not much larger than the size of an apricot. And apricots are now on sale that are the size of a walnut; walnuts are now on sale that are about the size of a grape, etc.

Coffee cans are lighter; there is more air in the cans--- an old trick that was seen in the Jimmy Carter days in the 1970s. Milk cartons are skinneyer.... But trout is still the old size and the same old price. Chickens have not been shrunk yet, and their price is the same as before. Loaves of bread are still the same old size, so far and on sale at roughly the same old price. Cakes are smaller, though.... Again, a good price, but the cakes have been down-sized. (Hilarious!)

This is an amazing story of what happens in a modern economy when central bank monetary policy has been too loose and for too long.

1st noted here april 2008...

Inflation: More than high prices

Rising prices is inflation sign #1. But four-dollar gasoline and $25 entrees at a restaurant where they were $15 two years ago is only one sign of inflation. Watch for these as well.

Inflation Sign #2: Smaller sizes, volumes and portions

Food makers are starting to reduce the size of items like candy bars and cutting back on the number of chips in a bag of chips. Expect food that fits into a box or a bag to decline in volume. Notice that bag of corn chips that used to be full is now one quarter empty, that jug of laundry detergent that used to be good for 30 loads will now do 24, and so on.

The way to defend against this form of inflation is to note the per-unit costs at the grocery store versus the per-package price.



Inflation Sign #3: Substitution of lower cost and quality ingredients

http://www.itulip.com/forums/showthr...s-of-inflation

\

c1ue's thread dec 2009 tracking the phenomenon... http://www.itulip.com/forums/showthr...-December-2009

how it works explained... http://www.itulip.com/forums/showthr...s-Eric-Janszen

[Shakespear]

Re: What's inflating in the U.S. basket?

Thank You metalman.

Inflation Sign #2: Smaller sizes, volumes and portions

Now the point is as clear as a bell.

[davidstvz]

Re: What's inflating in the U.S. basket?

I went to a bar a few weeks back that was charging $3.00 for domestic beers from time out of mind. Now they're charging $3.50 for domestics. Last time beer-at-a-bar prices rose it was from $2.75 to $3.00 6 or 7 years ago.

[doom&gloom]

Re: What's inflating in the U.S. basket?

it's enugh to drive a man to drinking... or make him stop.

[jpatter666]

Re: What's inflating in the U.S. basket?

it's enugh to drive a man to drinking... or make him stop.

My wife and I stopped going to bars and restaurants some time ago. Until I've got a TruTouch in my car to insure I don't do something stupid (and pay for it for *years* even barring any accident) bars are a waste -- we've one local place we can walk to and back, but usually we have far better at home.

Same for restaurants. Excepting a few places that have the variety and skill we do not (sushi still a weakness of ours), we cook ourselves -- and have found we're not too bad at it and it's usually better than even the "higher-end" places we used to frequent.

We'll still order pizza or some fast-food (Mexican/Chinese) but even those are starting to fall prey to our new-found culinary skills.

I've noticed many of our friends trending the same path -- it's not like they can't afford it, but even they are starting to recognize the lack of value.