OUBLE-DIGIT INFLATION is now inevitable this year in the United States; it is also very likely in most European nations, including the United Kingdom. In the twelve months to January the increase in consumer prices was 7.5 per cent in the USA, 5.1 per cent in the Eurozone and 5.5 per cent in the UK. Even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the forecasting consensus was that these numbers would rise sharply in the early months of 2022 because of price increases already in the pipeline.
