View

Commentary: Back off, central bank hawks — inflation is our friend

Here's why worries about inflation in the UK are overblown

The BoE has been fighting since the financial crisis to stave off deflation
The BoE has been fighting since the financial crisis to stave off deflation Photo: Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The following is an analysis by Brian Swint, features editor at Financial News, who oversees coverage of investment banks, asset management and hedge funds. Previously, he covered the Bank of England and the UK economy for Bloomberg News.

The panic over UK inflation is growing fevered after the rate jumped the most on record in August. Read the news and you’ll see plenty of worry that the Bank of England is losing control. That consumers are going to be hammered just as the economy emerges from the pandemic slump. And that we’re returning to a 1970s-style malaise of skyrocketing prices combined with sluggish growth.

WSJ Logo