OllyK

Suggest imflation is above the 2% set by the government

Fuel prices rise at fastest rate ever as inflation pushes past government's 2 per cent target | the Daily Mail

PeteBrant

If the CPI is 2.2%, then the RPI-X is about 3.5% and the RPI (which is what most of us live to) is going to be about 4.8% (although the recent cut in interest rates will have had an effect)


But fuel rates are almsot beyond and sensible discussion now, they are utterly ridiculous.

Leslie

Quite right.

Les

Petem95

I don't think the official figures accurately reflect real inflation, but even so the BoE and now saying they expect CPI to breach 3% by the middle of this year.

BBC NEWS | Business | Bank hints at limited rate cuts

Basically means they have little room to slash rates, despite the economic situation and house price crash looking like they're set to get worse.

fast bloke

4.75 before December 2008. As they started at 5.75 in December 2007, that equates to a massive 18% interest rate crash

Suresh

That's not going to affect me though, as I got one of these 'financial crash protection devices' off of E-Bay

fast bloke

I just use a tinfoil hat - It protects me from the statistics

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

Why don't the media quote the RPI when also quoting the CPI? We all know the CPI is a load of rubbish and was purely setup to show us what they wanted us to see.

Aren't MP's salaries based on RPI rather than CPI, so the figures must be available somewhere.

Suresh

Try the ONS.

National Statistics Online


RPI was last this high in the early 90s and the gap between RPI and CPI was last this big in 2000.

Annual RPIs 1989 - 2007

YEAR RPI CPI Diff
1989 7.8% 5.2% 2.6%

1990 9.5% 7.0% 2.4%

1991 5.9% 7.4% -1.5%

1992 3.7% 4.3% -0.6%

1993 1.6% 2.5% -0.9%

1994 2.4% 2.1% 0.3%

1995 3.5% 2.6% 0.8%

1996 2.4% 2.4% 0.0%

1997 3.1% 1.8% 1.3%

1998 3.4% 1.6% 1.9%

1999 1.5% 1.3% 0.2%

2000 3.0% 0.9% 2.1%

2001 1.8% 1.2% 0.6%

2002 1.7% 1.3% 0.4%

2003 2.9% 1.4% 1.5%

2004 3.0% 1.3% 1.6%

2005 2.8% 2.0% 0.8%

2006 3.2% 2.3% 0.9%

2007 4.3% 2.3% 1.9%

HTH

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

Wow, those figures make interesting reading

I am still surprised that the press don't tout them about a lot more though. I don't get why they climb into bed with the politicians when they know we are being fed rubbish.

Suresh

CPI is the internationally standardised inflation measure and cannot be arbitrarily re-defined by any individual government. So the UK Govt is not being dishonest by using it IMHO.

fast bloke

RPI is rubbish as well. People on a given income level will have a personal inflation rate. The poorer you are, the higher your personal inflation rate. If you look at something like milk and plasma TV's. Both are used in CPI and RPI rates. Milk has gone up by 7% and plasmas have come down by 40%. If you are not in the market for a plasma, your personal inflation rate is 7%. If you fancy a plasma then it is -33% or -39.7% or -16.5% depending how you want to calculate the statistics. The important thing to remember is that MPC decisions are based on this month relative to last month. Your future will be decided on the increase or decrease of CPI, PRI, RPIX.... etc whatever - but not based on its true value - basd on its relative figure to last month or last year. The only reason for introducing CPI was to reduce civil service pay increases

Leslie

Nothing to stop them being honest about a more realistic rate of inflation though is there?

Les

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

I never realised it was international. I just seem to remember them starting to use it when the RPI was showing higher figures than they wanted Maybe I was just being too cynical

Leslie

But how far do you trust the international leaders who worked it all out?

Les