Aged 13 (different times), my first Saturday job was in a supermarket (the Coop in Selsdon, if you must know.) My and the other staff’s first job was to take that week’s list of price rises, one of those sticker printer guns (no barcodes then, kids etc) and reprice everything. Inflation in those halcyon 70’s days was over 20%, which meant that stuff was literally getting more expensive every day. Unions ruled, however, and wages went up accordingly, the very definition of a vicious circle. So we should perhaps count our blessings that we’re now so used to low inflation that even 3% sounds peaky. Food inflation in the US is 1.2%, so about the same, and a lot more in Europe, so one up for the Brexiteers. Worth remembering that most governments and economists think a bit of inflation is a good thing as it means, magic word, growth. And of course, it’s all down to Rishi, as it was on his list to sort out. More magic.
“CBI forecasts no Bank of England rate cuts until at least 2026”
The ‘lag’, ‘trailing leg’ or ‘long wake’ of any economic measure means that its effects are often felt long after the problem it was supposed to solve has disappeared. 2010’s ‘balancing the books within the space of one parliament’ (that went well, didn’t it?), austerity to you and me, is one example.
