美制造商利用“缩水式通胀”将成本转嫁给消费者(上)

With inflation at a 40-year high in the U.S., we're all spending more when we go to the store.

由于美国的通货膨胀达到了40年来的最高水平，因此我们在商店里都要花更多的钱。

But economics correspondent Paul Solman reports that there is another dimension of inflation these days -- shrinkflation.

但经济记者保罗·索尔曼报道称，如今还有另一个层面的通胀——缩水式通胀。

We'll let him explain.

让他来为我们解释。

So what is this?

这是什么呢?

These are some of the newer items.

这些是一些较新的商品。

In fact, items consumer advocate and lawyer Edgar Dworsky had bought in just the past week.

事实上，这些商品是消费者权益倡导者兼律师埃德加·德沃斯基上周刚买的。

The first one here is kind of an egregious example.

第一个商品有点过分。

Angel soft toilet paper used to have 425 sheets on a roll.

天使软厕纸曾经一卷有425张。

The new one has 320.

新的软厕纸只有320张。

Wow. That's 25 percent.

哇。这是减少了近25%。

But it's almost two full rolls in new sizing.

不过新尺寸的厕纸也有整整两卷。

But look at the packages.

看看这些包装。

Don't they look almost identical?

他们看起来不是一模一样吗?

Do they ever.

他们曾经是一模一样的。

And that's the key to what's being called shrinkflation, says Dworsky, who writes the online consumer world newsletter and has been tracking product downsizing for decades.

这是所谓的缩水式通胀的关键，撰写在线消费者世界时事通讯的德沃斯基说，他几十年来一直在跟踪产品的尺寸缩减。

I remember the Charmin of the 1960's when Mr. Whipple came on TV.

我还记得20世纪60年代惠普尔先生出现在电视上的Charmin卫生纸广告。

I told them, squeeze the tomatoes, squeeze the melons, but please don't squeeze the Charmin.

我告诉他们，挤压西红柿，挤压甜瓜，但请不要挤压Charmin卫生纸。

And it had 650 sheets on a roll.

这种卫生纸每卷有650张。

The biggest one today has 366. It's about 90% less.

今天最大的一卷有366张。大约减少了90%。

And it's not just toilet paper.

而且，这不仅仅是卫生纸。

Ice cream tubs used to be a half gallon, or two quarts, then one-and-three-quarters quarts.

冰激凌桶过去是半加仑或两夸脱，后来是1.75夸脱。

They've now trimmed down to a svelte one-and-a-half.

现在他们已经把尺寸缩减到1.5英寸了。

Because lately, it's been the incredible shrinking everything.

因为最近，令人难以置信的是一切尺寸都在缩小。

Shrinkflation tends to come in waves.

缩水式通货膨胀往往是一波三折的。

We happen to be in the middle of a tidal wave at the moment because of inflation.

由于通货膨胀，我们目前碰巧处于波浪的中间。

That's because material and transportation costs have been soaring since the much reported supply chain snags.

因为自大量报道供应链短缺以来，材料和运输成本一直在飙升。

How best to pass them on to us consumers?

如何最好地将其传递给我们消费者？

Manufacturers rely on both raising the price and shrinking the product.

制造商既依靠提高价格，又依靠缩小产品尺寸。

The difference is they know that consumers are price conscious and consumers will catch the fact if that container of Orange juice went from $2.99 to $3.39 and they'll balk, they'll complain, maybe they'll switch to another brand.

不同的是，他们知道消费者对价格很敏感，如果橙汁从2.99美元涨到3.39美元，消费者会意识到这一事实，他们会犹豫不决，他们会抱怨，也许他们会换成其他品牌。

But they know consumers are not net weight conscious.

但他们知道，消费者并没有意识到净重。

They're not going to notice most of them, if the product has gotten a little bit smaller.

如果产品变小了一点，他们中的大多数不会注意到。

Especially not if the shrinkage is pretty much indiscernible.

尤其是几乎看不出尺寸收缩的情况下。

What is that, dishwashing detergent?

那是什么，洗碗剂吗？

This is Dawn. The current seven ounce little bottle is now six and a half ounce.

这是Dawn牌洗碗剂。以前是7盎司小瓶子，现在变成了6.5盎司。

So you lost half-an-ounce.

所以少了半盎司。

Honest to goodness, I don't know how they did it.

老实说，我不知道他们是怎么做到的。

But just know the bottom line is, you are getting half-an-ounce less.

但最重要的是，你买到的产品会少半盎司。