Consumer inflation could top 4% says the BBC...

[stevil]

...according to their website (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7458209.stm)


I'm p!ssed off with the cack I've been reading about the government/ Bank of England and need to get this off my chest (call it therapy if you want):

The Bank of England is reporting that inflation is likely to rise in the second half of the year to above 4%. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jun/17/inflation.interestrates4). Isn't this a rather low figure?

The Times says that "Food-price inflation has already pushed up a typical family’s weekly shopping bill by 15 per cent in a year." (http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/consumer_goods/article3799327.ece) and electricity and gas prices have increased approx 15% this year alone (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4684886.stm) (on top of the big increases over the past few years).

Petrol and diesel prices have shot up and higher interest rates will be hitting those on variable rate mortgages.

I'm certainly not an expert on economics but if the rate of inflation is calculated by the goods (fuel, food, energy etc) a family spends their income on how come "Chancellor Alistair Darling agreed with the Bank of England's assessment for the rising rate of inflation"? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7458209.stm.

It HAS to be more than 4% yup, but come on it must be a LOT MORE.

Sorry, had to get that off my chest, fecking 4% my arrse. However I guess 4% looks better than 15%!

 

[moving-target-survivor]

Labour is terrified of Inflation and will do its level best to bullshit and bluster its way out of it

Depending upon who you talk too, the real level of inflation appears to be far different to that of Darling Alistairs

In this respects, Food and Fuel are obviously way ahead of the curve.

No doubt interest rates will be raised again soon....

 

[jonwilly]

I remember the inflation of the 70s.
I can remember the day in late 60s when the Chancellor raised the duty on Beer and there was an outcry in my local.
For you could no longer buy 16 pints of Bitter for a Pound.
john
Yes thats Sixteen for 1 pound sterling.

 

[Perturbed]

...according to their website (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7458209.stm)


I'm p!ssed off with the cack I've been reading about the government/ Bank of England and need to get this off my chest (call it therapy if you want):

The Bank of England is reporting that inflation is likely to rise in the second half of the year to above 4%. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jun/17/inflation.interestrates4). Isn't this a rather low figure?

The Times says that "Food-price inflation has already pushed up a typical family’s weekly shopping bill by 15 per cent in a year." (http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/consumer_goods/article3799327.ece) and electricity and gas prices have increased approx 15% this year alone (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4684886.stm) (on top of the big increases over the past few years).

Petrol and diesel prices have shot up and higher interest rates will be hitting those on variable rate mortgages.

I'm certainly not an expert on economics but if the rate of inflation is calculated by the goods (fuel, food, energy etc) a family spends their income on how come "Chancellor Alistair Darling agreed with the Bank of England's assessment for the rising rate of inflation"? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7458209.stm.

It HAS to be more than 4% yup, but come on it must be a LOT MORE.

Sorry, had to get that off my chest, fecking 4% my arrse. However I guess 4% looks better than 15%!

I guess it depends upon how inflation is measured and your own circumstances. I have not noticed any inflation over the last few years. Have you?

 

[OldTimer]

Well lets see apart from fuel costs my council tax went up by over 10% the quality of the service they provide went down by more than that , food costs well over 10% in the last couple of months , electricity and gas , I have lost count of the number of increases , latest one was announced before the previous one even took effeck ,any one on a mortgage , depends which company but some of them are really feeling the pinch.
New Liarbour manages to massage the figures to only include items that have stayed the same so it looks good.
I woud hazard a guess that a true figure would be nearer 3 % per month , just ask any one who is a pensioner who has paid in all their lives just how they are managing , or rather not managing

 

[parapauk]

The short answer is that inflation is measured by onitoring the price of a pre-determined set of goods. Food and fuel has gone up in double figures, but manufactured goods (toasters, jeans etc.) are still either stagnent or going down - see the trousers for £3 at your local supermarket and think how much they used to cost.

Net result is the figure that seems like it is fiddled, but aside from the differing opinions on what goods should be counted in the figures, they arn't.

 

[Papa_Lazarou]

Worth bearing in mind that no socialist government anywhere has ever been able to manage a national economy, and labour's record on financial mismanagment is always the same.

Still, the great british public forgot and voted them in again.

 

[stevil]

Perturbed: You are fortunate. In my case, I certainly have noticed rising domestic bills over the past year. I just wish my pay rise (along with a great number of the Great British people) would cover these price rises!

parapauk: you are right of course. the things you mention are cheaper (and are taken into consideration as well in this "shopping basket" that they use). I'm just bl00dy annoyed that its what I would class as the essentials such as food and fuel that have rocketed. I certainly dont buy the number of jeans, CDs and DVDs as I used to when I was younger!

16 pints for £1. wooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwww

 

[moving-target-survivor]

Still, the great british public forgot and voted them in again.

Conservatives save

Labour spend

repeat ad nauseam

 

[tonto108]

When I joined pint of cheap beer i Junior Ranks was 1/10d (9p), the expensive stuff was 2/- (10p) but remember a Sappers pay was 18/9d (84p ?) a day then.

 

[eveyoz]

But the real rate of inflation in the UK and Oz is much higher than the quoted figures. The actual cost of living for an ordinary family has risen much more than the quoted inflation figures.

Massaging the figures.

 

[Daytona955]

I think a high inflation rate is good. Say it reaches 6%, well we have a better chance of a good pay rise to keep up with inflation. As I serve overseas, my cost of living does not go up, hey presto, a real pay rise.

 

[smartascarrots]

Worth bearing in mind that no socialist government anywhere has ever been able to manage a national economy, and labour's record on financial mismanagment is always the same.

Not strictly speaking true, though. China and Vietnam are both doing well enough through marketising their economies, but the State retains absolute overall control. Look at how government decree caps prices on things like cooking oil and rice. A market economy as a tool for socialist development is classic Maoism, the cat still catches mice regardless of its colour.

No Socialist government in the UK has ever been able to manage the economy, granted.

 

[Garhwal]

Vietnam's rate of inflation is now 25%. (Foodstuffs rose 22% in the month of May alone). China is also seeing a rapidly rising inflation rate and both countries are going to see a harsh correction at some point.

 

[jonwilly]

Tonto
The reason wages Have to rise, is to match inflation.
The world has just gone through an era of low inflation, now I will suggest due to Bush's War on Terrorism inflation is starting to rocket and with it goes Browns reputation as a Prudent Chancellor.
He made big money for the exchequer through Stealth Taxes, Taxes which where not, but did he use that money wisely and invest for the future in the times of plenty ?
In my opinion No he did not just typical Labour Tax and Spend on whatever seems socialisms fad of the day.
john

 

[oldgoat]

I believe one of the "points" is the cost of trousers sold by"xyz" and furniture sold by "XYZ" plus shoes from "XZY".

So food increase is %15 but above is %15 so cost of living is O%

So you voters, suck your dads cheesy dick.

 

[parapauk]

The world has just gone through an era of low inflation, now I will suggest due to Bush's War on Terrorism inflation is starting to rocket

The only plausable defence of that statement would be if either oil production had suffered (it hasn't: Iraq is now producing more that it was pre-war) or if you think that Israel wouldn't be threatening Iran with attack over it's nuclear program with someone else in the White House.

It's simply the result of 2.5 billion people all trying simultaniously to learch toward a Western standard of living, and the demands that go with it.

 

[Perturbed]

Perturbed: You are fortunate. In my case, I certainly have noticed rising domestic bills over the past year. I just wish my pay rise (along with a great number of the Great British people) would cover these price rises!

Maybe. If I am the only person here not to notice I am fortunate indeed. It is certainly nothing to do with wise planning and foresight on my part as I have pretty much drifted through life (that was not meant sarcastically BTW, I have planned almost nothing {long term career stuff} in my time).

OTOH. The reason I don't see much in the way of inflation is perhaps to do with other things beyond my control. My biggest monthly outgoing (rent) is the same as it was 3 years ago. My 2nd biggest (child support) is also the same and my 3rd biggest (council tax) again is pretty much what it was.

I am divorced and live near to where I work so food and fuel costs don't affect me too much (and virtually not at all compared to my big 3 outgoings).

So what is the real rate of inflation as experienced by the majority of workers? For me it is probably less than 3% over the last 3 years. I say that because that is about my average pay rise for that period and I seem to have more disposable income now than I did then.

I am fair sure it will be different for other people depending upon circumstances and what they spend most on.

 

[smartascarrots]

Vietnam's rate of inflation is now 25%. (Foodstuffs rose 22% in the month of May alone). China is also seeing a rapidly rising inflation rate and both countries are going to see a harsh correction at some point.

Yet both economies have seen growth continuously outstrip the developed world for decades now. Given that that's the Holy Grail of Western economic practice, it seems hardly fair to use other things like inflation to measure their governments' success.

Unless, of course, we're starting with the proposition that the economy should be managed in the interests of the people?

P.S. China has just recently put up fuel prices - by decree, not through market mechanism - to curb inflation. I'm extremely interested to see if it works. The 'harsh correction' would be likely in a market-led economy like ours. I'm wondering what that peculiar amalgam will do.