Expectations are that matters will get much worse still: markets are speculating that bank base rates might now reach 5.5% by the end of this year, which will deliver an almost unprecedented (in recent history) positive interest rate as a consequence of the Bank of England base rate exceeding the inflation rate.
This is the man who insists we should all save for our pensions in bonds and gilts, right? And seems to think that the country should also have negative real interest rates.
The two are not, not exactly, consistent with each other.
Tim, you are being naive: Murphy (who memorably declared that “we must save the party from the Blairites”) is advocating policies that will render all of us dependant upon the “generosity” of the curajus state in our old age by making our private pensions worthless – in line with Gordon Brown’s “pension Credit” which acts as a 100% tax rate on small private sector pensions (ones which had been decent modest pensions for workers before being hit by inflation).
He wants us to save for our pensions in green bonds and gilts so that they will be worth less than we pay in.
But if he’s giving notice that private pensions will be worthless, I’ll simply not buy private pensions. I’ll buy something else.