16 Nov Inflation’s Pesky Cousin. Click to keep reading…
Consumers are familiar with inflation, and may also have experienced shrinkflation, where the price of a good or service remains the same, but the amount that you get decreases. Now there’s another “flation” in town, skimpflation. In broad terms, skimpflation is the experience of getting less for your money. It’s when companies skimp on goods and services that they provide without raising prices.
For instance, have you stayed in a hotel lately? What happened to maid service, or breakfast in the morning? At Disney World and Disneyland, the tram services to and from the parking lots have been discontinued, forcing customers to walk almost a mile when they enter and exit the park. The quality of service seems to be deteriorating everywhere as businesses are often understaffed and struggling with surging costs. And whether businesses can’t afford to, or refuse to pay workers higher wages, some are attempting to economize by skimping on the quality of their services. This is another form of inflation that consumers have to contend with post-pandemic.
Some economists feel that the government is not factoring in the deterioration of quality in services, and underreporting inflation. The Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department suggest that the current inflationary economy is transitory, but in the meantime – consumers are feeling the pinch in lots of aspects of life.
Learn more at NPR.org.
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