To think this is the new normal?

[Sirius3030]

High(er) food prices, high fuel (electricity, gas, petrol) prices, high inflation 5-10%. Personally I don’t expect it all to somehow magically get better.
I’m not saying the end of the world is coming, although it seems like it at times, but I think things will get tough and stay very tough for many people in this country.
There seems to be a feeling that this year will be bad but it will all calm down next year. I don’t think so, there are too many structural problems in the world, quite apart from the likely impact of climate change. Am I being unreasonable?

I think you could be right. If the BoE and CEO's of banks and large corporations are saying it, it is a bit worrying.

I just hope after the stormy period they put something in place to make the world fair again and restore some social mobility. It seems we are all levelling down rather than up at the moment unfortunately.

For a while at least. The economy is cyclical, and you only have to look back at the highs and lows. We have experienced a quite stable period in terms of interest rates, growth, inflation, available credit etc, but it was only going to stay that way for a while. Similarly this period will last for a while I imagine, then it will change agian.

It will be patchy.

Some prices will go down once demand/supply has eased, fuel prices will eventually become more stable, and other things such as utilities too.

I do think it is unlikely other prices will go down though, once they have been raised many companies will simply stick with it, and rake in the profits. Maybe market forces will force some down, but not all.
Certainly labour costs are unlikely to go down whilst we have so many jobs available and demand, ditto the housing market.

We can flourish in a more 'expensive' market, as long as the wages rise with inflation or at least track somewhere close.

Lets wait and see, the long term outlook doesn't look too gloomy at all, most expect this to be a short sharp burst, the economy itself is reasonably healthy and that is not expected to change even with a short recession.

Russia have caused much of this, China's lockdowns haven't helped, covid fall out is still running its course.

I am reasonably optimistic.

Inflation will slow down, but prices will never go back to previous levels.

I think inflation could go higher. This seems to me the "perfect" storm of shortages of both goods and labour, so wage pressure like we haven't seen in a very long time, which will push prices higher still.

It's actually quite scary IMO.

Peaks and troughs.
I just make sure I don't spend more than I earn. I know that's not possible for everyone but I've lived long enough now to know that the good times don't last. But then nor do the bad.

Financially I seen things go up and down that doesn't bother anymore but the possibility of food shortages and the risk of Zoologically diseases crossing the species barrier concerns me.

Well, prices always rise so in that sense no life isn’t going to get magically cheaper. But the global political and economic situation will change, inflation will level off. And things aren’t dire at the moment: for the first time in many years, employment vacancies are far higher than unemployment, and this will have a gradual knock on effect on wages and just on people’s general ability to find better work opportunities.

Well inflation was over 17% in 1980. By 1984 it was down to 6.8%. I remember my mortgage interest was over 14% in 1988 or thereabouts.
Cyclical, as PPs have said.

I’m definitely not saying the end of the world is coming, because to be honest - it's all very familiar. It's pretty much like my 1970s childhood.

A bigger percentage of your income was spent on food back then, probably still more than the recent increases. Periodic shortages of food staples (sugar, bread etc.). Big queues at petrol stations when Opec embargoed oil exports. Miner's strikes. Electricity - rolling blackouts because they were coal-fired, reading by candlelight.Winter of discontent, strikes in almost every industry. Inflation - over 20%, IIRC. Four-day weeks because there wasn't enough power to run the factories for more.

It got better. This will too.

Well, they said that about masks .....

But seriously, i think prices will drop back down a bit, but not anytime soon. 18 months 2 years maybe. Not everything will stay expensive.

The economy rises and falls, there are good times and bad. That’s the way it goes. Not much comfort if you’re struggling.

And that was a terrible time when thousands lost their homes. Cyclical years/decades, but interms of years, not months.

Food prices have been low in the UK compared to other countries, so I think price rises were overdue and food may stay high for a while. Fuel prices are due to a combination of Russia's war, the move to green infrastructure and the eco-charge on all our bills.

I can't see either of them dropping back in the short term. Putin may come to his senses and go home but the switch to green energy was always going to be expensive, and the only people paying for it are the consumers.