alt Hacker News> Shrinkflation is all over. Burger buns at fast food places were more dense 20 years ago. The small burgers had 1/8th pound patties instead of the current 1/10th pound. It's hard to find a product that hasn't gotten worse or more expensive, even adjusted for inflation.
Isn't capitalism great? The common pattern with everything seems to be large companies degrading size, quality, and features of products in user-hostile ways.
IMHO, we need pretty strict regulation specifying standard product sizes and minimum quality. It would kill shrinkflation and also make alternatives more comparable.
On a related note: I recently listened to this (very good) podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hidden-supply-chai..., https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-25/the-hidde...) that stated pretty bluntly that food in the US is also more expensive and lower quality than food in Europe.
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I believe it that US food is more expensive and lower quality.
I was just thinking about bread in the US specifically. When I go to the grocery store here the bread is relatively expensive, and the vast majority of it is full of chemical additives. It subjectively tastes like fake crap. It's mass produced in a factory and shipped across the country, and for all that it's not even cheap to buy.
There are one or two specialty bakeries in my city but they are far apart, and a bit expensive, though still so much better than what is available at the chain groceries. I'm sure there are lots of places in the country that don't have those local options at all. Feels like the basic unadulterated loaf of bread has in the US become more of a luxury item than a cheap staple.
In my limited European experience (Italy and France mostly), there were numerous small bakeries in every single neighborhood I visited. I could easily take a short walk and grab a baguette or loaf for 1-2 euro, far cheaper than in the US. The bread was delicious and fresh, locally made, free of all the questionable additives.
Then repeat that for other things like cheese, berries, cured meat... each available in Europe with so much less additive or alteration, so much less mass production, cheaper and more plentiful. My travel diet was excellent and felt both healthier and cheaper.
I'm not sure what lead to this cultural difference. Maybe centralization, car culture, difference in regulation, or something else entirely. But the end result is a bit depressing.
I'm a little surprised to see this perspective on a tech website, because technology has gotten wildly cheaper and better over the past 20 years, and there are a number of free, excellent services that just didn't exist 20 years ago.
Like, internet speeds are far faster than they used to be, cheap phones are much better than expensive phones were a decade ago, TVs used to be an expensive status symbol 15 years ago — and look at them now.
Video games basically didn't index with inflation for years, and it's easy to pick up great older games at cheap prices on sale.
YouTube is free and an incredible resource for learning, entertainment, and brainrot.
Google Maps provides free GPS services, which are incredibly valuable. You even have FreeVee-style streaming services that don't require a subscription.
Yes, capitalism is pretty great? The one complaint I have never really seen anyone seriously aim at capitalism before today is "capitalism is an inferior system for the delivery of hyperpalatable junk food".
Eh, it’s more that degrading size and quality is used to mask the effects of inflation. You can absolutely find high quality products, they’re just more expensive - to some extent, they’re a more realistic price.
Why regulate this when you can just search out and buy better products? My farmers market has great deserts.
Or just don’t buy shitty mass produced chain products? The non-chain restaurants in my area are significantly better than 30 years ago. So are the breweries. Dive bars have gotten more sparse but the ones still around are better than ever. Food trucks are everywhere and good. Foods more expensive but you can still get a good restaurant cooked meal at 1/2 an hour’s minimum wage.
Like, if you buy garbage in a wrapper you should expect garbage. No one owes you a candy bar that never changes weight. The idea you would want to regulate that level of “what can people trade with each other” is absurd.