Friday, Apr 18, 2008
The Mail must be wrong - Gordon & George told us yesterday live on US TV that the UK has low inflation
Daily Mail: The REAL cost of inflation: The Mail's Cost of Living Index reveals food prices rising at SIX times official figure
The true, devastating scale of rising prices is revealed today - by the new Daily Mail Cost of Living Index. It shows that families are having to find more than £100 a month extra this year to cope with increases in the cost of food, heat, light and transport. According to the Consumer Price Index, inflation is running at only 2.5 per cent. Yet the Mail's index finds that food costs alone are rising at 15.5 per cent a year - more than six times the official rate. And there are double-digit increases in other "must-pay" essentials such as petrol, gas and electricity. Many families need to find more than £1,200 extra a year just to stand still.
Posted by jack c @ 08:50 AM (932 views) Add Comment
22 Comments
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1. renting2 said...
I trust the newspapers as much as I trust politicians. The 'papers basket of goods will be as dodgy as the governmment's.
2. Axxo said...
So would you rather interest rates at 12% instead, or the government to lie to us....
the choice is yours!!
3. it_is_going_with_a_bang said...
Well I haven't done a per item check, but anyone can see, if they do weekly shopping themselves, that prices are much higher now than a year ago.
2.5% is simply stupid.
Technology products should never be included in CPI or even RPI. Prices of 'old' technology always goes down over time. It just distorts the real inflation figures.
Whereas a lot of the things that you do need have increased substantially more than 2.5%. Who needs real figures. You can 'feel' how much they have gone up.
As I've said before, they are ignoring the real inflation figures at their own peril - or should I say ours. There is no point in telling people they have money in their pockets when they haven't.
4. Sanddancer said...
The price of the Daily Mail is going up to 50p on Monday. Didnt see any newspapers in the table published today.
5. tyrellcorporation said...
I recently calculated my inflation rate at 12.5% - slightly above the government's figures.
6. uncle tom said...
I think this is a good development, the index is transparent, relevant, and easily checked.
I hope the Mail doesn't try too hard to keep it to itself, and puts out an embargoed press release to the rest of the media on the eve of publication
One more stat for the HPC home page perhaps?
7. hpwatcher said...
@tyrellcorporation I recently calculated my inflation rate at 12.5% - slightly above the government's figures.
Yup. I pretty much agree with that.
BUT the question is....has the government artificially kept inflation rates low, keeping interest rates low, so that folks could contine borrowing & spending?
And if so why? Any answers from you bright guys?
8. cornishman said...
The Mail index does 'feel' about right for food inflation.
What I don't understand is how Tesco boss can keep stating on air that annual food inflation is only running at 1.something per cent. I do wonder if they haven't been promised something behind the scenes regarding their planning applications appeals or some such if they keep plugging the line that 'food inflation' does not exist.
9. tyrellcorporation said...
Tesco is one of the most powerful companies in the UK and my guess is that the level of corruption associated with planning applications is on a massive scale. It's also certainly in their interest to keep the credit flood gates wide open so they'll naturally understate inflation.
10. harold said...
With respect to Tescos, I think you'll find that sh*t tends not to go up in price.
11. rickyb said...
As credit dries up and we have less and less disposable income, you would think that spending would be more biased towards essential items such as food and energy, and less towards luxury items such as flat screen TV's (which always fall in price), and new furniture. Thus, if the basket of goods is changed to correctly reflect this change in spending patterns, you would expect the CPI inflation rate to increase even further as the the cost of essential items continues to increase.
12. rocket robbie said...
Your average person dont know what inflation is never mind worry about the consequences it causes. More articles coming out like this then hopefully people will sit up and start thinking whats going on around them.
And alot of people i know that does take an interest think that the goverment wont lie to us and im a crackpot for thinking other wise.
13. p. doff said...
We all know that the inflation figures are cooked, but you have to admit that the discretionary stuff really is cheap. I recently replaced an angle grinder for £22 - the old one (same make) cost me £64 twelve years ago. Also bought an HD ready LCD telly for the bedroom with freeview and DVD for £249. A new mountain bike with 21 gears and front/rear suspension was £55 when the previous one cost me over £200. I buy my 'everyday' jeans for under £4. I paid £1 for a steel shaft clawhammer at Tesco recently. It seems to be the same with most things. Yeah, it's probably all made in China and the quality may be questionable, but how do they do it? I know, I know, slave labour and all that, but I'm still gobsmacked when I think about whats involved in extracting and processing the raw materials, the energy costs, forming and finishing the product plus packaging and shipping. I just wonder how the manufacturers and retailers manage to make any profit.
It's no wonder that manufacturing is stuffed in this country in the new paradigm of the global market.
14. waiting for the crash said...
Harold
You are right the price of s*** does not go up.
I'm paying the same price this year as I did last year for manure for the garden.
So effectively a fall.
It is probably included in the CPI and RPI calculations as it does not go up in price.
15. mark wadsworth said...
Axxo, interest rates of 12% would be rather splendid, as house prices really would fall by half overnight.
hpwatcher #7, I hope that was a rhetorical question!
p.doff, well said. The only thing that is amazingly expensive is saucers for plant pots. A 12" one costs about £2 - that's more than the cost of the pot (if you buy them in packs of three at Tesco or Homebase). But electronic stuff is as good as given away - not forgetting that the retail price is about three times what the Chinese sell it for.
16. d'oh said...
Yes, discretionary stuff is getting cheaper all the time. Food, energy, council tax etc., has all sky rocketed. I tend not to buy much of the discretionary garbage.
Strangely, one thing I have noticed is that cat food and no name generic white fish has dropped significantly in price. Cleo and Mischief are very happy about this.
17. Will said...
What a great index. "Broadband : Apr-07 £18 Apr-08 £12, -3.3%"
Good maths.
18. C'mon Correction said...
"So would you rather interest rates at 12% instead, or the government to lie to us....
the choice is yours!!"
Axxo - I'd take 12% interest rates all day long. I'm not indebted to my eyeballs, have been prudent and have worked and saved hard to obtain a nice pile of savings. All i want is a modest home to raise a family in. Rates at 12% would mean house prices would fall so low I could buy a small modest home in cash and live a simple happy life. So YES 12% RATES IS WHAT WE SHOULD HAVE !!!!!!!
19. cornishman said...
I see that the price of fertilizer has just TREBLED for the next year.
Chinese agree to pay extra $400 U.S. per tonne for fertilizer
20. Icepick Tony said...
Now that it seems clear that property prices are falling how long before the New Labour propaganda machine include them in the CPI and then use these falling prices as evidence of low inflation? Message to Brown & Co - We are are not as stupid as you think.
21. Lem said...
@ HPwatcher. Smart guy, I’m not, but I’ll let you know how I see things. The real problem facing the west is China. It has a huge workforce willing to work for next to nothing (and unwilling for nothing) to make goods at a price the west simply cannot compete with. The result has and will continue to be a collapse in western manufacturing. On the horizon is a situation where the Chinese start to demand higher wages, and better conditions. In turn the price of our imports will soar, and with our own work force unskilled and unwilling to work factory jobs we will not be in a position refuse to pay what they ask. We have to become more competitive. It looks like GB thinks the way to do it is to lower our standard of living with high inflation and low interest rates. Get everyone to spend everything they have, and get them to work for less.
22. titaniccaptain said...
This is going to sound nuts but here I go...............As someone who enjoys good food I have recently found that there is one Supermarket where the food is cheap and yet some and I mean some of the produce is way beyond that of Tesco/Asda/morrisons safeway..............and the winner is ALDI.........Ok its no waitrose/marks or sainsburys but well worth having a bash at their finest range and its alot cheaper