Submitted by Tyler Durden on 10/23/2015 23:08 -0400
Dear Bureau of Labor Statistics: please pay careful attention to this case study of how your CPI “inflation” gauge, hedonically, seasonally-adjusted or otherwise, is completely inaccurate, and how what you record as 0% inflation is really 72%.
As Consumerist points out, for the latest example of “stealth inflation” we go to Sodastream, where as part of a redesign of its proprietary line of flavoring syrups which “cost the same” the actual bottle contents are now not only smaller but also diluted.
“How much smaller? The old version made 50 servings of flavored drink, and the new versions make only 29. Why 29? Why not 30? Such are the mysteries of the Grocery Shrink Ray.”
Consumerist shows that “the new bottles are somehow taller even though they’re smaller. On the positive side, they no longer look like petite laundry detergent bottles.”
Furthermore, while the number of servings is down to 2/3 of the original amount, the bottle size isn’t that much smaller. That’s because the measuring cap is now bigger, and each serving uses more syrup. “The worst part is that they just diluted it with more water so the ‘new improved’ ones LOOK like they are the same size,” reader Erik complained to us. “They are 440ml instead of the old 500. EVIL! Free the bubbles! Stop this shrink ray occupation of my favorite soda!”
The old versions are still available on SodaStream’s site for now, as “Classics,” but readers report that they only find the shrunken version in brick-and-mortar store.
Consumerist’ conclusion: “maybe SodaStream made this change because they know that the product still looks reasonably priced next to its new competitor, the Keurig Kold. Maybe.”
Actually, why SodeStream did this is irrelevant: we are confident the decision to shrink and dilute the product was the result of simple concerns about maximizing profit margins.
What is far more troubling is that for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, both the “old” and the “new” product costs the same, or $5.99, hence there is no inflation… until one does the actual math.
Presenting the “old“, Dr. Pete soda mix, the one which is no longer available in bricks-and-mortar outlets, which costs $5.99 and which makes 50 servings per bottle.
And here is the new one: available everywhere for “the same price as the old one” but with one small difference – it makes only 29 servings per bottle.
The math:
- Cost per serving “old” style: $0.1198
- Cost per serving “new” style: $0.2066
Nominal inflation: 72.4%
Worse, there is not even an attempt to make the “new” product “hedonically” better, or for that matter different in any way – it is just smaller, and massively diluted.
And it just so happens that nobody in the Bureau of Labor Statistics noticed this oldest trick in the book, and why month after month the BLS reports core CPI that is negligible, and why said “lack of inflation” allows the Fed to continue its zero-interest rate policy for 7 consecutive years in a row.
It used to take two cans of frenched green beans to make green bean casserole. It now takes 3. Cans, and price, the exact same.
I used to get two servings of Chicken Noodle Soup out of one can for my daughter’s lunches. As she hates it rewarmed (and I’ll agree, it does taste worse the second time), I would divide the concentrated can before heating it for her thermos. Noticed last year that there were no longer enough noodles to get two hunger satisfying servings out of. So, in addition to less to begin with, I end up with more waste.
I would get about 3 months of printing from my old color toners, now I get less than 2 even though the price went up.
Used to routinely get 40-50,000 miles out of a set of tires, it is tracking less than 30,000 now.
On and on and on and on.
Can someone name anywhere in America that we are not being lied to and screwed as a normal part of surviving? With the exceptions of here, I can’t. From sea to shining sea it is all a den of lies.
Yes TE, it’s all lies.
I first noticed the size of toilet paper shrinking several years ago. It’s almost comical all the tricks they pull before they actually raise the price.
My once favorite box brownies used to make a 13 x 9 pan. Now, it takes 2 boxes and the ingredients are a bunch of fake crap to boot.
5# sack of sugar is now 4# sack of sugar. Same price though.
If you ever use old cookbooks or recipes that call for “1 can” of something, you have to attempt to find out the actual size of the can back then. It sure as hell is smaller now.
And, being a label reader, it’s absolutely criminal what’s being put into “food”.
I could go on and on too. If there’s any upside, it’s that my kids got a great lesson in how hidden inflation works. They have become almost as cynical as I am, lol.
I am astounded that so many people today do not realize that when a food item gets smaller in size and the price is the same or cost more the cost per ounce has gone up and therefore it is a price increase. I remember when coffee was in 5 lb pound cans but today you are only getting 20-30 oz. Cans of corn, string beans are smaller and not filled with beans as full as they used to be. Even pickle jars are not stuffed full and have more water and less pickles.
More people are dumber than mud these days and do the dumbest things. The cashiers for instance when you give them 3 pennies when the bill is $4.53 some look confused. The cash register even figures it out but some still don’t get it, 50 cents back.
Maybe this is why the state has let education, and math in particular, get so bad. Makes it a lot easier to keep people in line.