Grocery Shrink Ray and Inflation

July 3, 2008 8:13 AM

When inflation is measured, do economists take into account the shrinking size/quantity/volume of consumer products? Like when Pampers stay the same price, but each box contains fewer diapers thanks to the Grocery Shrink Ray.
posted by punkfloyd to grab bag (5 comments total)

Yes they do.
posted by JPD at 8:14 AM on July 3, 2008

They don't measure by "boxes" but by meaningful quantities like weight or volume.
posted by Tomorrowful at 8:19 AM on July 3, 2008

(that is, volume of product, not of packaging - liquids, for example)
posted by Tomorrowful at 8:20 AM on July 3, 2008

"If the selected item is no longer available, or if there have been changes in the quality or quantity (for example, eggs sold in packages of 8 when they previously had been sold by the dozen) of the good or service since the last time prices had been collected, the economic assistant selects a new item or records the quality change in the current item."
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 8:22 AM on July 3, 2008

The exact contents of the "Basket of Goods" used to determine CPI inflation figures are quite interesting. You can get the details of the current UK one here (PDF) for example and see exactly how they define each item. For example two additions for the 2008 basket are a "Classic non-chart CD album" and "A Muffin". Out of the basket this year go "A microwave oven" and a "Steering Lock device". Last year I read an interesting article (in a flight magazine - not online) about the history of the British basket of goods since the 1940s. They made the point that a 1940s consumer would have absolutely no conception of what many of the items on today's list even were. Everyday items have gone from "A mangle" to "A DVD player" for example.
posted by rongorongo at 8:44 AM on July 3, 2008