28 Jan Stealth Inflation

When I was a child, I often beat my brothers to the Topps 3-D trading cards in our cereal boxes. After mom came back from the grocery, I would quietly open the new box, pour out the cereal, grab the card at the bottom, and pour the cereal back in before being caught by my mother or brothers. Today, I could open that same box, reach in, and pull out a card without touching the cereal — why? Stealth inflation. It’s the same-sized box, with substantially less content in it.

Throughout the food world, as prices have gone up, companies try and hide this cost by reducing the amount of product inside packaging. For those living in poverty, it is quite a struggle. Food and gas prices hit our families quickly, and these cost increases are ever-present burdens that overwhelm already-tight budgets – even if inflation is stealthy.