Lockdown savings & inflation

[chairz]

Heard someone on the radio recently saying the amount saved by households during the pandemic was one of the key drivers of demand now & the case of inflation. Apparently we should be spending money to get rid of it & the gov shouldn't step in.

We did save a fair bit because we didn't do anything other than work & the radio man said savings of 20-40k plus were not uncommon. Surely though poorer households won't have had this opportunity & do need more gov help?

Household can affect things but I think that spending more now would drive inflation as lots of stuff is in short supply

Think about it - they don't want wage inflation as then people would spend if and drive inflation , so why would spending savings be any different ?

Spending money would make inflation worse. Plus whilst some high earners might have saved tens of thousands of pounds, most people will not have been able to save the equivalent of their entire annual salary. The man is either an idiot or a "shock jock" taking a deliberately controversial position to generate phone callers.

I think the point he was making is that people were spending it particularly on house moves & renovations & that when it was "burnt through" it would calm down.

I do know 3 people who moved & the 30k or so stamp duty went straight onto a loft extension or kitchen extension.

Whilst some may have been able to save a lot of money many didn’t of course loads of people are worse off now. We were like you and saved, DH worked at home throughout and saved a few thousand in commuting costs plus no holidays at all for 18 months or eating out.

The man is either an idiot or a "shock jock" taking a deliberately controversial position to generate phone callers.

He was a caller in, I was just taken aback by the amount he said he & his peers had saved.

Wealth inequality in this country is shocking

Some groups have saved loads - overall this will likely be the smallest group

Many have lost loads

yes just read an article from the BOE & it said higher income households were far more likely to not get furloughed & had the highest savings