It's a good example of hidden inflation. The price of Duracells on the grocery store shelf hasn't gone up that much, but their quality has fallen far enough to render them unfit for most purposes. You can still buy AA and AAA cells that don't leak, but to do that, you'll have to spend several times as much for primary lithium cells, or use NiMH rechargeables that might or might not work in your devices.
The combination of environmental regulation and economic optimization has the effect of bifurcating the marketplace. If you're wealthy, it's all good. Those lithium AAs that cost $20 for a bubble pack of 4 are at least as good as alkaline Duracells were, back when they could make them out of mercury and polonium and DDT. But if you're a paycheck-to-paycheck kind of person, you'll spend the same money for a much-worse product that will have to be replaced more often.
And no, you can't dodge this problem by switching to Energizers. That worked for a while, but I've replaced plenty of leaky Energizers recently. They aren't quite as bad but that's all you can say for them.
There is no solution but to switch to NiMH when possible and primary lithium otherwise. Conventional alkalines are done for.
My guess is that the same thing's going to happen with everything from cars and computers to food and furniture. Quality is about to become VERY expensive.