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The Base Rate might rise to minus 14%!

The Bank of England could be forced to raise interest rates to 4% from as early as next year to combat soaring inflation, despite the growing risk of recession amid the cost of living crisis.

Given predictions of 18% inflation that’s a real interest rate of minus 14%. Not that this is advice you understand, but the logical position – if your cashflow can stand it – is to fill yer boots with debt in such a situation.

14 thoughts on “The Base Rate might rise to minus 14%!”

  1. Will Ritchie still be demanding everyone invest their pensions and savings in 1% bonds? Or will reality finally catch up with him?

  2. 1970s anyone?

    22% inflation; 16% interest rates; 35% – 83% income tax; 52% corporation tax; power cuts; three day week; rising unemployment; strikes, strikes, strikes.

    It will be just like old times. Crisis? What crisis?

  3. Assuming we follow this suggestion, where should we invest the borrowings? Rising interest rates make both property and shares perform poorly. Or do you just mean bring forward large purchases (new car / new kitchen / whatever)?

  4. John B – it’s very 70’slicious, but without the good things that made the 70’s bearable. I don’t even want to know what a “Dua Lipo” is.

  5. People have been successfully mining copper in Cyprus for at least 3,000 years. That plus tin from Cornwall made the Bronze age.

    A standard mining technique is that once we’ve a new mining/extraction technology we go look at all the subeconomic deposits we think are already mined out and see if the new makes the old economic again.

    So, yes: https://www.asktraders.com/analysis/caerus-minerals-jumps-on-cyprus-drilling-result/

    Tho’ your garden might not be economic…..

  6. Steve, what, do ya mean “good things that made the 70’s bearable”? – 28″ Flares (Loons), Watneys Red Barrel, platform soles, Jess Yeats playing with his organ on a Sunday, Division One football pitches that resembled the Somme rather than ‘hallowed turf’, Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s 23 minutes of self indulgent, bombastic ‘prog rock’ on each side of a triple album, Arctic Roll, Whispering Bob Harris presenting the Old Grey Whistle test (No, actually that one was definitely a gem), Abba winning the Eurovision song contest in Brighton (another gem – cor, Agnetha in blue velvet trousers…..), The World of sport on Saturday, including the ITV 7, Scrambling, then ‘Professional’ wrestling from the Fairfield Halls Croydon with our host, Kent Walton, Blakes 7 (Servalan – another, corr!!). Yeah, great times…….

  7. It is one of fallacies of popular history that ERM membership forced interest rates up when (except for the panic measures on Black Wednesday itself) nominal UK base rates only ever moved downwards during the membership period. What is meant, of course, is that ERM membership prevented nominal rate cuts at the pace required to keep real interest rates stable or falling as was called for by domestic monetary (and more general macro-economic) conditions.

  8. Addolff – also the 70’s had a cracking selection of attractive birds who spurned bras. I could get into this Wimmins Lib thing.

  9. Addolff,
    I bumped into Jacquie Pearce on Queensway but was too stunned to say anything. I can confirm she nipped down to the shops in full Servalan drag.

  10. 1970s anyone? . . . It will be just like old times.

    The 70s was (mostly) everything going to shit under Labour, then (80s) Conservative boom.

    This will be everything going to shit under the “Conservatives”, then everything going even more shit under Labour. And yes, I believe the people will vote for the twats.
    .

    Crisis? What crisis?

    Ah, Supertramp.

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