Because Congress could never get price controls passed and Republicans are using inflation as a political tool, the real problems will never be addressed at that level. However, the Executive Branch can investigate price gouging. Selling products in smaller amounts for inflated prices is investigated in the article below.
I am very serious when I state my costs of living have not seen the kind of inflated prices as others. I purchase goods from a cooperative whereby I am one of the member-owners. I not only am not suffering inflated prices I continue to eat the same diet without interruption. At the owners dinner once a year I also get back a percentage of the profits the coop has realized.
Additionally, four times a year for one day in the month the member-owners are treated to 10 percent off purchases. When renewing membership everyone is supplied with five times 5 percent discount during the year. On every Wednesday the cooperative offers 5 percent discount to Senior Citizens.
The Coop also accepts Food Stamps with special attention to vegetables and fruits. Those using food stamps are provide a percentage of their spending in free fruits and vegetables. If they don't use all the free percentages in one food order, that percentage carries over to any food order they purchase in the future.
Yes, my Non-GMO coop food store is normally more expensive than the area Wall Street stores, but, it is a moral mission the Coop carries out along with an increased price to bring in as much local interests as possible, including a limited amount of clothing and household items. There are also a variety of beneficial programs for the community, including "Micro-loans" for new local start ups that will sell their products at the Coop.
Now, that I have advocted a different way of thinking about food purchases, the inflation in America is somewhat a Wall Street strategy. See, if Wall Street can make these higher costs painful any relief from it will be welcome. The inflation rate might be a problem, but, I don't believe Wall Street is feeling that much of a pinch in their bottom line. I am not saying Wall Street isn't flucturating on a day to day basis. I think to understand the morality of a company, look at the profit margin and stockholder returns before declaring it is all inflation. It is not all inflation.
By Dee-Ann Durbin
It's the inflation you're not supposed to see. (click here for video)
From toilet paper to yogurt and coffee to corn chips, manufacturers are quietly shrinking package sizes without lowering prices. It's dubbed "shrinkflation," and it's accelerating worldwide.
In the U.S., a small box of Kleenex now has 60 tissues; a few months ago, it had 65. Chobani Flips yogurts have shrunk from 5.3 ounces to 4.5 ounces. In the U.K., Nestle slimmed down its Nescafe Azera Americano coffee tins from 100 grams to 90 grams. In India, a bar of Vim dish soap has shrunk from 155 grams to 135 grams.
Shrinkflation isn't new, experts say. But it proliferates in times of high inflation as companies grapple with rising costs for ingredients, packaging, labor and transportation. Global consumer price inflation was up an estimated 7% in May, a pace that will likely continue through September, according to S&P Global.
"It comes in waves. We happen to be in a tidal wave at the moment because of inflation," said Edgar Dworsky, a consumer advocate and former assistant attorney general in Massachusetts who has documented shrinkflation on his Consumer World website for decades....
