BELOW SUPERNAV drop zone ⇩

Ohio senator calls out companies for ‘shrinkflation’

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

ovp test

mLife Diagnostics LLC: Oral Fluid Drug Testing

Male shot by female at Shreveport apartment

Class to create biodiverse backyard

Rules for outbursts at Caddo School Board Meeting

Mortgage Calculator

This calculator helps you estimate your monthly mortgage payment. It adds up the loan payment (principal + interest), property tax, and insurance. The loan payment is spread out over the years of your loan term.

This is the total amount you're borrowing from the bank.
This is the yearly interest rate on your loan.
This is how long you'll take to repay the loan.
This is the yearly tax you pay on your property.
This is the yearly cost to insure your home.

Monthly Payment Breakdown

Principal and Interest: $

Property Tax: $

Homeowners Insurance: $

Total Estimated Monthly Payment: $

(The Hill) – Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, called out companies for “shrinkflation” Monday after Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster expressed frustration with the practice in a social media post.

“Me hate shrinkflation! Me cookies are getting smaller,” Cookie Monster wrote in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Brown, who serves as the chair of the Senate Banking Committee, agreed with the fuzzy blue Sesame Street character and slammed companies for shrinking the size of their products without cutting prices.

“Me too, Cookie Monster,” Brown wrote on X. “Big corporations shrink the size of their products without shrinking their prices, all to pay for CEO bonuses. People in my state of Ohio are fed up — they should get all the cookie they pay for.”

WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 13: Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-OH) attends a hearing with the Senate Banking Committee on Capitol Hill on June 13, 2023 in Washington, DC. The committee held the hearing to review “The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Semi-Annual Report to Congress.” Photo by Michael A. McCoy/ Getty Images)

Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., also replied to Cookie Monster’s post Monday, saying, “I’m on it.”

Both Brown and Casey are bracing for tough reelection races in November. Former President Donald Trump won Ohio in both 2016 and 2020; he won Pennsylvania in 2016 before narrowly losing the state to President Joe Biden four years later.

The White House similarly took aim at “shrinkflation” last month ahead of the Super Bowl, with Biden releasing a video slamming the practice as a “rip-off.”

“Some companies are trying to pull a fast one by shrinking their products little by little and hoping you won’t notice,” Biden said in the video. “Give me a break. The American public is tired of being played for suckers. I’m calling on companies to put a stop to this.”

Americans have expressed frustration as companies have either raised prices or turned to “shrinkflation” in the wake of high inflation.

Inflation, which peaked at a 40-year high of 9.1 percent in June 2022, has steadily eased over the past year and a half, falling to 3.1 percent as of January, as measured by the Labor Department’s consumer price index (CPI).

While smaller sizes might be harder than outright price increases for shoppers to notice, the Bureau of Labor Statistics includes both when calculating the CPI.

Despite the Federal Reserve’s repeated interest rate hikes — which sought to tame inflation — the economy has remained surprisingly resilient, continuing to surpass expectations in jobs created while maintaining an unemployment rate below 4 percent. 

As inflation continues to fall and the U.S. appears to have avoided a widely anticipated recession, many have touted the apparent “soft landing” of the economy. 

However, Biden and Democrats have struggled to change Americans’ largely negative views on the economy.

Your Money

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

MAIN AREA MIDDLE drop zone ⇩

Trending on NewsNation

MAIN AREA BOTTOM drop zone ⇩

tt

KC Chiefs parade shooting: 1 dead, 21 shot including 9 kids | Morning in America

Witness of Chiefs parade shooting describes suspect | Banfield

Kansas City Chiefs parade shooting: Mom of 2 dead, over 20 shot | Banfield

WWE star Ashley Massaro 'threatened' by board to keep quiet about alleged rape: Friend | Banfield

Friend of WWE star: Ashley Massaro 'spent hours' sobbing after alleged rape | Banfield

Clear

la

54°F Clear Feels like 54°
Wind
1 mph E
Humidity
51%
Sunrise
Sunset

Tonight

Cloudy. Low 49F. Winds light and variable.
49°F Cloudy. Low 49F. Winds light and variable.
Wind
2 mph NE
Precip
1%
Sunset
Moon Phase
Waning Crescent