However this time most inflation is due to rising prices in essentials like food , energy and fuel so things that people can't generally buy significantly less of and has risen due to factors not related to increasing demand. So I'm not sure if rising interest rates is actually going to reduce inflation significantly.
Exactly. The only thing I can assume is that they want more people on the streets, freezing and starving. It's one thing dissuading people from buying expensive handbags or going to fancy restaurants; quite another putting basic essentials beyond their reach.
That said, I also struggle to reconcile what we are told: that inflation is a bad thing that is caused by excessive consumption, and therefore we need to reduce demand; BUT it's always lauded as a fantastic thing when new markets open/expand and jobs are created and we hear of 'consumer confidence' spoken of in a very positive light. Just for one of very many, I remember when Nissan opened their plant in Sunderland, there was jubilation about the boost to the local economy; and, as you'd expect, sales of Nissans increased in the region - and the country as a whole - as well as the cars made for export.
The logical conclusion would seem to be that high streets closing down and derelict shopping centres would be the best thing for our economy?! Saving is a good thing, but only as a means to delaying spending money until a more important/desired time: if huge amounts of it remain forever in a billionaire's bank account for willy-waving purposes, it ceases to be a useful part of the economy at all.