{"id":33455,"date":"2024-05-04T20:46:21","date_gmt":"2024-05-05T03:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=33455"},"modified":"2024-05-04T20:46:23","modified_gmt":"2024-05-05T03:46:23","slug":"corporate-profiteering-schemes-that-drive-inflation-detailed-at-senate-hearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/05\/04\/corporate-profiteering-schemes-that-drive-inflation-detailed-at-senate-hearing\/","title":{"rendered":"Corporate Profiteering Schemes That Drive Inflation Detailed at Senate Hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Sen.<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) presides over a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on May 16, 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo: Mandel Ngan\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“At every turn, companies are cutting corners on the path to record profits, and American consumers are paying the price,” one expert testified.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

BRETT WILKINS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 02, 2024 (CommonDreams.org)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Progressive policy experts took aim at corporate greed and profiteering during a Thursday U.S. Senate hearing on “shrinkflation,” the process of reducing the size or quantity of a product while selling it at the same price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs hearing<\/a>\u2014entitled “Higher Prices: How Shrinkflation and Technology Can Impact Consumers’ Finances”\u2014Chair Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) began by acknowledging<\/a> that “prices today are far too high, and families are having a harder time finding a fair price, seeing more of their paycheck vanish into thin air.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“All of this is happening while corporate profits hit record highs,” the senator continued. “Let’s be clear: The fact that prices and corporate profits are going up at the same time is no coincidence. A study<\/a> by the Kansas City Fed found that corporate profits drove half of the price increases in 2021.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you noticed that your chip bags and snack boxes contain less in them than before?

It's called Shrinkflation.

It's how big corporations are continuing to rip off consumers\u2014by keeping prices the same but reducing the amount of product. pic.twitter.com\/4JxGnXhJ8N<\/a><\/p>— Robert Reich (@RBReich) May 2, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote>