Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Britain 'lacks anti-inflation culture'

Stephen Goodwin
Thursday 17 December 1992 00:02 GMT
Comments

A SUSTAINED fight against inflation seemed to be beyond the capacity of any political party, Lord Desai, professor of economics and a Labour frontbench spokesman, observed last night as the House of Lords considered whether the Bank of England should have a bigger role in securing long-term price stability, writes Stephen Goodwin.

Britain lacked an anti-inflationary culture and it would not be easy to inculcate one, he said.

The Earl of Caithness, Minister of State for Transport, said Britain's experience, with inflation at 3 per cent, showed the right policies got inflation down whatever the institutional arrangements.

Initiating the debate, the former Coal Board chairman Lord Ezra, for the Liberal Democrats, said the time was right for the Bank to be given greater responsibility. 'It is essential that an effective institutional framework should be established to secure price stability in the long term, and above all to avoid the ebbs and flows that have been so damaging to the British economy.'

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in