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This is not correct. Pension funds have been selling off their shareholdings of British companies for a long time. Today only 6% of the money saved in UK pension funds is invested in UK companies. Just 0.2% of the total value of UK 28 pension funds is invested in BP and Shell. The majority of UK pension funds 29 invest their capital in bonds, that is, securities issued by governments and corporations that are supposed to be paid regardless of the level of profits. 30 It has to be said, finally, that not every enterprise has benefited from high prices since 2021. Many small businesses are also at the mercy of big suppliers who are driving up prices to make extra profits. The problem of inflation lies with big businesses that are in a position to exploit their market power and take advantage of rising prices. They make sure that the prices that must be paid by households and smaller businesses, including the self-employed, are higher. For big businesses, rapid inflation has meant a bonanza of profits. • The aggregate supply of goods and services has been weak for many years. • The pandemic delivered a major shock to aggregate supply and caused world-wide supply disruption. The war in Ukraine greatly exacerbated the disruption of supply, especially in energy and food. • The UK government boosted aggregate demand to confront the pandemic, mostly by supporting enterprises but also by buttressing individual income through furlough and other means. • The inability of supply to respond adequately to demand led to price increases for key goods and services in the UK and across the world. • Big companies, even in sectors where supply was seriously disturbed, took advantage of rising prices to boost their profits, greatly increasing their mark-ups. • Growing profits are behind the persistence of inflation in 2022 and beyond, not wages that have failed to keep up with rising prices. Inflation in the end is a matter of struggle between workers and capitalists for the distribution of the value that is produced. If aggregate demand is pushing prices up and wages are not keeping pace with price increases, then quite simply Mercer, European Asset Allocation Survey, 2019, Chart 5. At: https://info.mercer.com/rs/521-DEV-513/ 28 images/ie-2019-european-asset-allocation-survey-2019.pdf Philip Inman, “Windfall tax on oil giants won’t hurt British pensioners, thinktank fnds”, The Observer , 8 29 May 2022. Mercer, European Asset Allocation Survey, 2019, Chart 5. At: https://info.mercer.com/rs/521-DEV-513/ 30 images/ie-2019-european-asset-allocation-survey-2019.pdf In light of all that, the true causes of present-day inflation in the UK are clear:

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