Inflation is a social evil, so why don’t our leaders care?

It was a ‘destroyer of society’, a ‘tax on ordinary people’s savings’ and a threat to social order. You don’t have to spend very long browsing the history books to find thumping quotes from Ronald Reagan or Margaret Thatcher denouncing rising prices as an evil that had to be defeated. And today? Even with prices in the UK now rising at 9.1 per cent, the fastest for 40 years, there are just a few mumbled apologies, coupled with some evasive excuses. That is not good enough. If we are going to defeat inflation all over again, it will take some leadership.

We learned today that inflation has nudged up again, this time well past the 9 per cent barrier. The Bank of England is already forecasting it might go above 11 per cent, and given how cloudy its crystal ball is – only a few months ago it was arguing inflation was just a blip – it might well climb a lot higher than that.