Big pay rises won’t beat inflation

The poor are best helped through tax and benefits, not boosting the minimum wage

WARTIME EMERGENcies excepted, Britain’s inflation rate first became an acute problem in the 1960s. The initial policy reaction accorded with the wider enthusiasm at that time for state planning and interference. The government negotiated limits to the maximum increases in wages and prices with the peak organisations of labour and industry, the Trades Union Congress and the Confederation of British Industry. However, experience showed these “prices and incomes policies” — administered by lawyers, civil servants and the like — could be evaded. Businessmen and workers found ways around them, and they were ineffective if demand and output were too buoyant. One of the key clarifications of the Thatcher period was that an appropriately responsible monetary policy was the correct answer to inflation. On coming to power in 1997, New Labour…

You're reading a preview of

The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, August - September 2023

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.