to be annoyed by this headline - "Why inflation is falling but prices are still rising"

[cakeorwine]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64290160

Inflation is a measure of how fast prices are rising. So if it's positive, prices are still rising. Just the rate of that increase is "slowing down".

However, if this needs to be explained, then maybe politicians who say that they are going to reduce the level of inflation are going to be worried when people don't see prices falling.

(although it does seem that the fall in the price of fuel over the last few months has helped bring inflation down, as the overall cost in the rise of the basket of goods has slowed down).

Depends which measure of inflation they are looking at. Sometimes it includes e.g. mortgage costs, which aren’t exactly prices!

Oh, also, yeah. That’s a completely accurate headline. Prices are rising but not so fast. What’s wrong with that?

That headline completely explains the position though, and is needed because many people don't understand.

It's the story - why people need an explanation that even though inflation is falling, prices are still rising.

If you need an explanation, they you don't understand inflation

Good and simple explanation about inflation here by Lewis Goodall using Hunt's own examples

twitter.com/TheNewsAgents/status/1615823874150604801?t=NSN6oEMDMXw-m3oSesJ2kg&s=19

Are you saying you should never bother explaining something? To me this is exactly why such an article is needed. You claim people don't understand inflation. This article explains it, but you seem to be saying it shouldn't have been written.

This is why we need better maths education.

It's sort of annoying that there is potential confusion - that it needs explaining to people that even though inflation is falling, prices will still be rising.

I’m pretty sure that Sunak was banking on the fact that plenty of people think falling inflation = falling prices when he promised to halve it.

I think the much bigger problem is that inflation in food prices is still rising. It’s the fall in fuel prices that has brought this particular overall inflation down slightly.

Why is it annoying that it has to be explained? The news explains things all the time. Should we never anymore have articles explaining things because we should all have learned everything there is to know at school? What happens if we caught chickenpox and had to have two weeks off? We should be destined to remain in ignorance of those two weeks of facts forever?

Have you ever met an average member of the public?

Why is that annoying? Lots of people leave school with very little Maths.

Financial illiteracy is a worry, by adulthood everyone living independently should have a basic understanding of inflation, interest rates, mortgage products, credit cards, tax, insurance etc. We allow a culture in schools of it being okay to not bother with maths.

You're basically saying you're annoyed that some people aren't as clever as you.

I would hope that people understand at least the basics of inflation.

It's reported regularly.

But if it needs explaining, then clearly many people don't understand what inflation is and will be disappointed when prices don't fall.

I think Sunak is going to be disappointed.

Clearly fuel costs are falling, and it looks like energy costs are falling as well.

But food prices are still going up - and as certain groups experience "different inflation" depending on what they buy, I think him claiming "we have halved inflation" will see many people disappointed.

The headline is necessary because you can not tell if prices are rising or falling from the inflation figure alone.

1. Inflation can fall when prices fall
2. Inflation can fall when prices rise
3. Inflation can rise when prices fall

eg1
Prices in 11/21 = 100, 12/21 = 100, 11/22 = 110, 12/22 = 109
Prices have fallen (from 110 to 109) but inflation in November was 10% and in December is 9%

eg2
Prices in 11/21 = 100, 12/21 = 102, 11/22 = 110, 12/22 = 111
Prices have risen (from 110 to 111) but inflation in November was 10% and in December is 8.82%

eg3
Prices in 11/21 = 100, 12/21 = 98, 11/22 = 110, 12/22 = 108
Prices have fallen (from 110 to 108) but inflation in November was 10% and in December is 10.2%

Why does it matter if it's explained three times, or eight times or twenty-two times? You don't have to read it. Why is it an issue that if you know something, other people shouldn't have a chance to learn?

You must have met humans, and if so you must know that both a) intelligence and b) knowledge vary.

I am more annoyed at you pretending not to understand people than I am about people not understanding inflation!

Many people don't understand inflation, so it can't be explained often enough. Tim Harford has recently done a very good podcast series on the basicsbof economics: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001dwr0

OP, I haven't read your article, so forgive my pedantry if this is not directly relevant to your point, but it's perfectly possible for (some) prices to rise as (headline) inflation falls, because official inflation measures use a very specific "basket" of goods and services that aren't always fully reflective of the overall picture.