Fahrenheit 101 – why inflation indices are so controversial.

We measure inflation using “indices”. They are at best, very rough guides to the change in “average” prices in our economy.  But they’re fraught with problems, like “whose average?” Or indeed who is Mr and Mrs Average? So the debate as to which method is righ is very important. We’re seeing such a debate in …

Cracking the Genetic Code of Inflation – the future is “metallic gray”

My ex-colleage and good friend Ken Leech often recounted that “the story of interest rates is the story of inflation”. Put differently, where inflation goes determines where interest rates go. Today, inflation is considered a mystery. Despite the trillions of dollars poured into the US, European and Japanese economies over the past ten years, inflation is …