When it comes to buying toilet paper, Brazilians are finding their money just doesn't go as far as it used to. Toilet paper makers are trimming the length of their rolls while Brazil is battling a two-ply crisis rooted in the economic chaos in neighboring Argentina and a local energy shortage. Dollar-denominated pulp costs are up because Brazil's currency, the real, is down at record lows—a contagion effect from the Argentine economy. And production costs are rising because electricity rationing requires the use of generators and changes in the manufacturing process. A company could compensate for higher costs by raising prices for consumers or by sizing down packages. The toilet paper companies took the latter approach, prompting consumer watchdogs to blow the whistle.*“They want to increase prices without the consumers noticing,”said Vera Marta Junqueira, director of surveys at consumer protection agency Procon in Sao Paulo. “It is a type of trickery.” In its monthly supermarket surveys for basic necessities, Procon found that leading brands like Neve and Personal cut the length of rolls by 25 percent from 44 yards to 33 yards, but not the prices.

　　在买卫生纸的时候，巴西人发现自己的钱不像以前那么值钱了。巴西面临着邻国阿根廷经济动荡和国内能源短缺的双重危机，而卫生纸生产商们也开始偷工减料。由于阿根廷经济（恶化）的传动效应，巴西货币里亚尔对美元的汇率降到了历史最低点，以美元计价的纸浆成本由是上扬。而巴西的限电政策迫使工厂使用发电机，生产工艺也要调整，使得生产成本进一步上涨。商家只能通过提高产品售价或是减少单位包装内产品数量来弥补损失。卫生纸生产商们选择了后者，此举马上被消费者监察组织曝了光。“他们想瞒着顾客偷偷涨价，”圣保罗消费者保护机构Procon的调查经理维拉·马塔·君奎拉说。“这是一种欺诈行为。”在每月一次的超级市场基本生活用品调查中，Procon发现像Neve和 Personal这样的领导品牌把他们生产的卫生纸长度由每卷44码减到了33码，减幅达25%，而价格却依然故我。