Can renewable power help tackle the UK's inflation problem?

The Green Alliance Podcast

Green Alliance

Environment, Uk, Farming, Green Alliance, News, Sustainability, Society & Culture, Government

4.9 • 34 Ratings

🗓️ 3 August 2023

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Inflation hit a 41 year high in 2022. This was largely driven by high gas prices due to the war in Ukraine. Although that gas price spike is dropping out of inflation now, inflation is nowhere near pre-war levels and neither are energy bills. What is the policy response? Interest rates are currently at a 15 year high, the highest they've been since 2008. The Bank of England is raising interest rates to try and get inflation down closer to their target of two per cent. This is putting pressure on consumer spending and creating particular pain in housing costs through higher mortgage rates. So how do we get out of this high inflation, high interest rate world? To answer this question, our senior policy analyst Heather Plumpton speaks to our senior policy adviser Stuart Dossett and Eric Lonergan, policy economist and writer, about the role renewable energy can play in bringing down inflation.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Green Alliance podcast.
0:05.7	We are the charity and think tank that is all about achieving ambitious leadership for the environment.
0:10.9	I'm Heather Plumpton, senior policy analyst at Green Alliance,
0:14.2	and today we're going to be asking,
0:15.9	can renewable power help tackle the UK's inflation problem?
0:21.6	Inflation hit a 41-year high in 2022, and this was largely driven by gas prices due to the war in Ukraine.
0:29.6	Although that gas price spike is now dropping out of inflation to a certain extent, and we've come down from those double-digit highs of 2022.
0:39.3	Inflation isn't anywhere near pre-Ukraine levels and neither are energy bills.
0:45.2	So what is the policy response?
0:47.5	Well, the Bank of England is raising interest rates to try and get inflation down closer
0:52.2	to their target of 2%. Interest rates are currently at a 15-year high.
0:58.0	Last time they were this high was 2008,
1:00.0	and this is putting pressure on consumer spending
1:03.0	and creating particular pain in housing costs through higher mortgage rates.
1:08.0	So how do we get out of this high inflation, high interest rate world?
1:12.9	Well, I'm delighted to be joined today by two experts. Green Alliances owned Stuart Dossett,
1:18.5	a senior policy advisor working on decarbonising the power sector and greening the economy,
1:23.6	who previously worked at the Bank of England for nine years. And also Eric Lonegan, a policy economist and writer,
1:30.5	who is a frequent contributor to the Financial Times,
1:33.2	and has written three books, two on economics,
1:36.2	Angrenomics and money,
1:37.6	and last year on the economics of the green transition
	...

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