Inflation
Inflation falls: but will voters notice?
Today’s drop in inflation is good news for the government. The Consumer Prices Index grew by 2.4 per cent in the year to April 2013, down from March’s 2.8 per… Continue reading
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Matt Hancock vows to fight low pay, but fails to emphasise the importance of low inflation
Matt Hancock, the business and skills minister, addressed the Resolution Foundation’s low pay debate this morning, an indication of how seriously the Tories are taking the rising cost of living.… Continue reading
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Forget beer and petrol: will MPs debate monetary policy today?
MPs are debating the detail of the Budget today, and will doubtless pick over some of the lines from George Osborne’s round of interviews this morning, particularly the confusion over… Continue reading
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Ed Balls reverses over his own progress on fiscal responsibility
The battle-lines over the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill — which faces its second reading in the Commons this afternoon — have been drawn. Labour has tied its opposition to the… Continue reading
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Employment has recovered from the recession, but wages haven’t
Today’s employment figures don’t contain much new to shout about. The number of people in work — although it rose by 100,000 on the previous quarter — is actually down… Continue reading
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Tuition fees push inflation back up to 2.7%
After falling to 2.2 per cent in September, inflation — as measured by the Consumer Prices Index — rose to 2.7 per cent in October. On the Retail Prices Index,… Continue reading
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Government responds well to energy price fixing claims
It is a busy day on the economic front, with new inflation figures (which are expected to show an increase) to be released at 9.30am and Ed Davey, the energy secretary,… Continue reading
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Inflation falls to 2.2%
Inflation in the year (on the Consumer Prices Index) to September was 2.2 per cent, down from 2.5 per cent in August. On the Retail Prices Index, it was 2.6… Continue reading
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Fares rise brings fresh cost of living woe to Tories
This morning’s announcement that the retail prices index rose to 3.2 per cent in July, up from 2.4 per cent in June, means commuters will see a 6.2 per cent… Continue reading
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The hunger Games
One million children at risk of starvation in Niger; global food inflation last year of approximately 6 per cent; political instability linked to food price rises; drought in the US… Continue reading
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Lower inflation eases the squeeze, for now at least
George Osborne might not be feeling particularly comfortable with today’s August Inflation Report from the Bank of England, as Sir Mervyn King is expected to slash the Bank’s growth forecast… Continue reading
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Meryvn has his case for more QE
Last Thursday Mervyn King said ‘the case for further monetary easing is growing’, and today’s surprise inflation figures give the Governor and his policymakers more leeway to introduce the next… Continue reading
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Metaphorical Merv
Mervyn King unfurled a mast of metaphors this morning. ‘We are navigating through turbulent waters, with the risk of a storm heading our way from the continent,’ he said. ‘We… Continue reading
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Mervyn’s mini mea culpa
The newspapers and internet today are full of headlines about Mervyn King admitting the Bank of England was ‘late to the game’, and that central bankers should have ‘shouted from… Continue reading
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QE is a government hijack, says King
While Mervyn continues to inflate our universe via Quantitative Easing, another Mr King — Stephen, the chief economist of HSBC — has issued a report saying QE is a way… Continue reading
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Four tests for Osborne’s Budget
With the Coalition taking pre-Budget briefing to new levels you’d be excused for thinking there’s little we don’t know about tomorrow’s statement. But here are four questions we can’t yet… Continue reading
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The child benefit cut risks alienating striving families
Why should someone on the minimum wage subsidise the childcare arrangements of someone on £100,000? So runs the argument for abolishing child benefit for higher-rate taxpayers. You can see why… Continue reading
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Inflation falls as the VAT rise drops out
Late last year, the Tory party’s brains trust found that the inflation numbers corresponded directly to whether or not people thought that the economy was on the right track. When… Continue reading
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A feast of Quantitative Easing
Fire up the printing presses, once again. The Bank of England has just announced another £50 billion of Quantitative Easing, bringing the total monetary expansion up to £325 billion. And… Continue reading
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Bringing the squeeze into focus
The ‘word of the year’ for 2011 is already featuring prominently in 2012. Yep, the ‘squeezed middle’ is the focus of the Resolution Foundation’s latest report, which they launched in… Continue reading
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