President Joe Biden has used the term “shrinkflation” in recent days to place some of the culpability for higher prices on businesses and counter Republican criticism of his economic management.
Shrinkflation, a portmanteau of “shrink” and “inflation,” was featured in a recent video ad that Biden’s team released. Biden railed against the practice, which is when companies try to save money without antagonizing customers by reducing the size or quantity of goods without raising the price.
“While you were Super Bowl shopping, did you notice smaller-than-usual products where the price stays the same?” Biden posted on X. “Folks are calling it Shrinkflation and it means companies are giving you less for every dollar you spend. I’m calling on the big consumer brands to put a stop to it.”
“American public is tired of being played for suckers,” Biden said in the video.
Peter Loge, director of the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs, told the Washington Examiner that he thinks the shift toward focusing on basic grocery store staples and the changes that people might be noticing while shopping could be more effective than merely touting positives in the macroeconomy, such as low unemployment or strong economic growth.
“The economy is getting better, but people don’t experience the economy. They buy groceries,” Loge said during an interview. “I think what the president is trying to do is to tell voters, ‘You know, I’m with you on this. I know how this feels and I can’t change the law, but maybe together, we can call out these companies for trying to take advantage of you.'”
The shrinkflation line represents an attempt to acknowledge voter frustrations, Loge said.
“When I’m at the grocery store, I’m not thinking, ‘Well, thank goodness for macroeconomic trends,’” Loge said.
But digging deeper, the president’s latest messaging around inflation took a page out of the playbook of the Left, which has been arguing for years now that the inflationary scourge isn’t caused by government spending but rather is a result of corporate greed.
Lawmakers including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) have claimed that companies are causing prices to rise in order to rake in big profits.
For instance, nearly in tandem with Biden’s proclamation on snack food shrinkflation, Warren put out her own video that talked about Doritos, Oreos, and toilet paper.
“You ever go for the last chip in the Dorito bag and suddenly say, ‘Whoa, there should have been more chips in here?’” Warren asked. “You would be right. From Doritos to Oreos to even toilet paper, these big corporations are shrinking how much they give us, but they are charging the same amount or sometimes even more.”
Still, Republicans and those on the Right have dismissed Biden’s attacks on shrinkflation, with some pointing out their view that excessive spending by the administration, coupled with Federal Reserve monetary policy during the pandemic, is mainly to blame.
“Shrinkflation is real, but it’s not a partisan issue. Shrinkflation is part of the great COVID inflation,” Ryan Young, senior economist at the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute, told the Washington Examiner.
Young said some “corporate-greed bogeyman” isn’t to blame but rather that politicians should face public scrutiny for the higher prices.
Shrinkflation is factored into statistics for inflation, such as the consumer price index.
“If the Biden administration wants to stop shrinkflation, it has to get inflation under control. That means spending less. The Federal Reserve also needs to restrain itself the next time there is a downturn,” Young said. “The economy is in good shape, and Biden’s remarks risk scaring voters into thinking it’s not.”
Biden also mentioned shrinkflation during an event in Las Vegas. He claimed that while Snickers bars haven’t increased in price, they have shrunk in size by about 10%.
“It’s a lot smaller. So, that’s how they’re making more money,” Biden said.
The Washington Examiner contacted Mars, which makes Snickers, about whether the candy bars have decreased in size but did not receive a response.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was also asked about Biden’s messaging around shrinkflation during a Monday news briefing. She was asked whether the president accepts any responsibility for the country’s too-high inflation.
“We get that prices are still kind of hurting Americans, but what we’ve seen is that prices have gone down for eggs, for milk, for seafood, and that’s important — they are lower where they were a year ago, and we know that’s not enough,” Jean-Pierre responded, adding that Biden has called on corporations to “pass their savings on to hard-working Americans.”
