On the surface, UK inflation in 2023 is becoming similar to that of the 1970s, when everyone talked about a “British disease” making the country the “sick man” of Europe.
Stubbornly high inflation that eclipses rates in other countries. Contracts, such as mobile phones, linked to inflation, amplifying price pressures. The authorities struggling to control household costs. And wages following prices higher.
Certainly, UK inflation seems to be stickier than that of other countries. This has been caused by a combination of robust spending at a time when labour markets are tight — also a problem for the US — and the residual effects of a huge rise in European wholesale gas prices last year.