Alastair’s Place

Software development, Cocoa, Objective-C, life. Stuff like that.

Inflation

Apparently CPI inflation is now 5.2%, with RPI at some 5.6%. The Bank of England is supposed to set interest rates according to its inflation target of 2%. It even says this, quite clearly, on its own webpage:

Each member of the MPC has expertise in the field of economics and monetary policy. Members do not represent individual groups or areas. They are independent. Each member of the Committee has a vote to set interest rates at the level they believe is consistent with meeting the inflation target. The MPC’s decision is made on the basis of one-person, one vote. It is not based on a consensus of opinion. It reflects the votes of each individual member of the Committee.

Yet, month after month, the MPC has voted consistently against raising interest rates.

Note that the MPC committee is not supposed to vote to set rates according to anything other than inflation. It isn’t supposed to care one jot about anything else, and while it does explain that there is supposedly a lag of “about two years”, the data consistently shows an upwards trend over a much longer period. Put another way, going by the data, interest rates should have been higher in the past, and should be higher now.