Inflation comes in higher than expected in the U.S. Markets push interest rate cuts further into the future.
Inflation comes in lower than expected in the U.K. Markets think the Bank of England has a green light to cut soon.
This might come as a surprise: nobody is quite sure what causes inflation. Central bank models assume the link between interest rates and inflation is via the labour market - wages. But inflation has come down, as interest rates have gone up, without any connection with the labour market - economies are running with very tight jobs markets. Go figure. Somebody needs to work out what the inflation process is, since central banks appear to be looking in the wrong place.
Why is the inflation target 2%? Any science behind this number?
The magic and mystery that is productivity growth. It’s not been around for very long. Everybody wants some but nobody is quite sure how to deliver it.  
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Inflation surprises of both kinds. Why target 2%? Why not 8%? Productivity growth - why it is so vital.

Economics and finance demystified.
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An immediate post-budget Irish election? Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-other-hand-with-jim.power-and-chris.johns.

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'After taking the pin out, you are supposed to throw the grenade'. Is the UK really in worse political shape than the US?

How far can EU rate cuts diverge from the US? And much more! Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-other-hand-with-jim.power-and-chris.johns.

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"Stop the world, we want to get off": SF takes offence at the 'militarisation of the EU'. A poor month for the Irish consumer. REal wage growth might come to the rescue.

Jean-Claude Juncker, ex-head of the EU Commission, once famously said that policymakers know what is the right thing to do, but don't know how to get re-elected if they do it. That is true too much of the time. But is there a unique opportunity for the Irish government, for once to do the right thing and to be rewarded for it at the ballot box?
Finance Minister McGrath has promised a tax-cutting budget. Is he missing a trick? Housing has such political salience in Ireland, if he threw the kitchen sink at building more homes instead of tax cuts, maybe that is also a vote-winning strategy? And also an opportunity to give Sinn Fein a good kicking while they are down?
Meanwhile, data emerges that shows the Irish tax system becoming even more unbalanced. That's storing up problems for the future.
San Francisco hasn't had an earthquake lately but its commercial property sector is crashing. Vacancy rates are probably higher that the 30+% reported as some big companies are effectively squatting in very under-utilised space. Why not just covert all this space into housing? Lots of other cities, including Irish ones, are in the same position.
Rishi Sunak's damage limitation exercises backfire. Labour can't believe its luck.
Keir Starmer's irish influencers. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-other-hand-with-jim.power-and-chris.johns.

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A rare opportunity to do the strategically right thing and reap political dividends: a budget for housing, not tax cuts.

UK election dominates headlines that should be about China simulating war Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-other-hand-with-jim.power-and-chris.johns.

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Economic PTSD? EU economy growing again. US economy accelerates? Stock market reaction to Nvidia humbles analysts

Inflation falls in the UK but *only* to 2.3%. Cue weeping and wailing and much hot air. The narcissism of small differences.
Does anybody know what really causes inflation? Does the ECB understand the connection (or lack of) between interest rates and inflation? 
The human aspects of all this are often lost in dry discussions of monetary policy and inflation. But the human dimension is real, big and too often ignored by central banks. 
Nvidia, AI, data centres and the nuttiness of stock markets.
Housing policy contains asymmetrical risks: building too few is much more dangerous than building too many. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-other-hand-with-jim.power-and-chris.johns.

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Inflation surprises of both kinds. Why target 2%? Why not 8%? Productivity growth - why it is so vital.

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