Persistent inflation highlights the need for reform
21 June 2023
SUGGESTED
Energy and Environment
Andy Mayer quoted in City AM
20 June 2023
Lifestyle Economics
Housing and Planning
Commenting on the Office for National Statistics’ latest Consumer Price Inflation release, Julian Jessop, Economics Fellow at free market think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs, said:
“The latest inflation shock will heap pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates even further, increasing the risk of overkill.
“Headline inflation should still drop sharply over the rest of the year as food and energy prices fall back. But the problem now is that core inflation, excluding food and energy, is no longer just ‘sticky’. Instead, it is actually heading in the wrong direction. To some extent, this is driven by temporary factors like the extra Bank Holiday and the large increase in the national minimum wage. The bigger picture, however, is that the UK is still paying for the Bank’s underestimation of inflation and decision to keep monetary policy too loose for far too long.
“The government should avoid kneejerk and counterproductive policies like mortgage subsidies or price controls. But they have a role in tax and regulatory reform, including fixing our broken planning system, to ease constraints on the supply side and to boost the economy’s productive potential.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Contact: media@iea.org.uk / 07763 365520
In July 2022, the IEA published Cutting Through: How to address the cost of living crisis edited by Matthew Lesh and Kristian Niemetz, found that an average family could save £9,000 a year by cutting red tape in housing, childcare, and energy.
The mission of the Institute of Economic Affairs is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems. The IEA is a registered educational charity and independent of all political parties.
“The latest inflation shock will heap pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates even further, increasing the risk of overkill.
“Headline inflation should still drop sharply over the rest of the year as food and energy prices fall back. But the problem now is that core inflation, excluding food and energy, is no longer just ‘sticky’. Instead, it is actually heading in the wrong direction. To some extent, this is driven by temporary factors like the extra Bank Holiday and the large increase in the national minimum wage. The bigger picture, however, is that the UK is still paying for the Bank’s underestimation of inflation and decision to keep monetary policy too loose for far too long.
“The government should avoid kneejerk and counterproductive policies like mortgage subsidies or price controls. But they have a role in tax and regulatory reform, including fixing our broken planning system, to ease constraints on the supply side and to boost the economy’s productive potential.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Contact: media@iea.org.uk / 07763 365520
In July 2022, the IEA published Cutting Through: How to address the cost of living crisis edited by Matthew Lesh and Kristian Niemetz, found that an average family could save £9,000 a year by cutting red tape in housing, childcare, and energy.
The mission of the Institute of Economic Affairs is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems. The IEA is a registered educational charity and independent of all political parties.
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