It is hard to imagine how those without access to a reliable, flexible (sector-specific) news service cope. Today (Friday 13 January) is a case in point. Who and what do you believe?
On the first hand, we have statements ravaging the headlines of bulletins screaming that inflation hasn't yet peaked (the head of Tesco, Ken Murphy, warning us - maybe - that the price of butter and scallops will maintain its journey north until the middle of the year) and the Bank of England is going to keep raising interest rates. Catherine Mann, an external member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee, is quoted today as saying that that more aggressive monetary action (aka raising interests more steeply) this year may be required to lasso rampaging inflation. Whoaaaa, Catherine; haven't you just read that the UK is officially not even in recession yet, as today it was announced that our glorious economy grew 0.1 per cent in November, confounding all economists (whose main hobby is to be confounded at every turn).
Kitty Ussher who is chief economist at the Institute of Directors seems to think several things as once, some of them directly contradictory to each other, as she now considers rate rises are unnecessary: "The risk now is that rates will rise too far if inflation is already on a downward path due to changes in global energy prices.”
We'll come back to you, Kitty, once you have a settled view.
This is all on the same day that the Bank of England netted a cool £4 billion for all of us having sold off all of the £19.3 billion in long-term gilts it bought to calm panic in the bond market in the aftermath of the September 23 fiscal statement. A big thank you for that one Kwasi and Liz; we expect it was your plan all along. On top of the £8 million People GB have netted this week on everyone guessing future gas prices wrong we in the NTI newsroom think we all deserve a celebratory drink at one of the pubs, bars and restaurants who helped us to the November growth in GDP.
Do you remember how the UK was financially bankrupt just a few weeks ago, with nothing but a comparison with Somalia to look forward to? Well, forget that. Last evening, at the sound of the Lutine Bell at Lloyd's of London, the FTSE 100 hit its highest level in more than four years after better-than-expected economic data propelled the share index of Britain’s biggest companies to within touching distance of an all-time high.
And there is an even greater reason to celebrate if you are a rogue, a vagabond or a director with a fraudulent bounceback loan. Almost 30,000 HMRC staff (half of all of them) voted for a walkout in the spring, forcing the Revenue to admit that it may take "some years" for it to collect the billions it is owed in unpaid tax. Apparently the staff are 'very cross' about the significant staff cuts being imposed at HMRC. At the last count there is almost £42 billion of unpaid taxes (around 5 per cent of the entire UK tax burden) and in its latest annual report the Revenue admitted it does not know when it will reduce the proportion of the money owed.
Gary Lineker, speaking to the Times said: "..." Oh, hang on, we don't care what a former Leicester No 9 said.
