In case of wider interest, here are the slides from a presentation I made yesterday to the Shadow Monetary Policy Committee, hosted by the IEA. The SMPC is a group of independent economists whose purpose is to monitor the decisions of the Bank of England’s official Monetary Policy Committee and to make policy recommendations of … Continue reading ‘Economic Overview’ (presentation)
Tag: MPC
Rate cuts are coming, but the markets may have to force the Bank’s hand
The Bank of England’s decision to leave interest rates on hold this week was no surprise. However, there is still little sign that policymakers are thinking of cutting rates any time soon, despite stagnant growth and falling inflation. Indeed, three of the nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted again for another quarter … Continue reading Rate cuts are coming, but the markets may have to force the Bank’s hand
What a Pill
The Bank of England’s Chief Economist, Huw Pill, has caused another public relations disaster by criticising workers for demanding higher pay - and firms for passing on higher costs. Instead, he told a podcast from Columbia Law School, “someone needs to accept that they’re worse off”. Let’s begin with a recap of what Pill was … Continue reading What a Pill
UK food price inflation set to fall sharply
First, the bad news. The lowlight of the latest UK inflation data was that the consumer price (CPI) measure of food price inflation jumped even further in March – to 19.1%. This contributed about 2.2 percentage points to the overall inflation rate of 10.1%. With ‘core’ inflation still stubbornly high (over 6%), food price inflation … Continue reading UK food price inflation set to fall sharply
Plain-speaking Economics 