by Graeme Wearden at The Guardian
British households and businesses “need to accept” they are poorer and stop seeking pay increases and pushing prices higher, the Bank of England’s chief economist, Huw Pill, has said.
Pill said a game of “pass the parcel” is taking place in the economy – as households and companies try to pass on their higher costs.
Speaking on a podcast produced by Columbia law school, Pill said it’s natural for a household to seek higher wages in response to soaring energy bills, or for a restaurant to increase its prices.
However, he said the UK is a big importer of natural gas, and its price has gone up a lot compared with the exports, mainly services, which the UK sells to the rest of the world.
“If the cost of what you’re buying has gone up compared to what you’re selling, you’re going to be worse off,” he said.
“So somehow in the UK,…
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