Apocalyptic food shortages

2022 - 5 - 17

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'Apocalyptic' food shortages: Bank of England governor Andrew ... (NationalWorld)

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Sorry for being apocalyptic but that is a major concern.” “It’s a societal question, but I am not preaching about this. I was asked if I have taken a pay rise myself this year and I said no, I had asked the Bank not to give me one, because I felt that was the right thing for me personally. “It is a major worry for this country and a major worry for the developing world. “The Ukrainian finance minister said that there is food in store but they can’t get it out,” he told MPs. The governor said “we are walking a very narrow path” between surging inflation and risks to growth, and stressed that the war in Ukraine has led to an unpredictable jump in inflation, warning there is still a “major worry” over further rises in food costs due to the conflict.

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Bank of England warns of apocalyptic food prices due to ongoing ... (WION)

The disruption in supply chain has resulted in surging inflation across the world and Bailey warned the MPs on the Treasury Select Committee of a very big ...

The disruption in supply chain has resulted in surging inflation across the world and Bailey warned the MPs on the Treasury Select Committee of a "very big income shock". “To forecast 10pc inflation and to say there is not a lot we can do about 80pc of it, I can tell you it is an extremely difficult place to be. While [the finance minister] was optimistic about crop planting, he said at the moment we have no way of shipping it out as things stand, and it is getting worse.”

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Image courtesy of "Telegraph.co.uk"

There won't be a house price crash, but beware a buy-to-let dip (Telegraph.co.uk)

Property markets only take a dive when you have very high unemployment and interest rates.

But with the labour market as tight as it is today, it seems unlikely. Yet even here, there seems to be no shortage of corporate and institutional investors, with the economies of scale needed to absorb these costs, willing to step into the breach. Don’t expect a flood of cheap properties coming on to the market as a result of higher borrowing costs. First time buyers might also benefit if the effect was to induce a crash, making the price of home ownership more accessible. Never mind resurgent inflation, there are almost as many net cash savers in the UK as borrowers. Also tight as tight can be is supply. House prices went through a distinctly soggy patch in the immediate aftermath of the vote for Brexit, but once the deal was done, and the fog began to lift, they gathered pace anew. That’s why banks are so keen on mortgage lending; there is no form of lending which is safer. The chill beginning to settle on a previously red hot market is already unmistakable. This still looks incredibly low to those of us who can remember double digit mortgage rates, but everything is relative. With everything else inflating away like there is no tomorrow, that’s quite a squeeze. A year ago, it was still possible to get a 10-year fixed mortgage on an interest rate of less than 1pc.

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