Is inflation out of control?
The Inquiry
BBC
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 26 May 2022
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Covid-19 pandemic forced countries all over the world to close entire industries and force the majority of people to stay in their own homes where possible, only leaving for the bare essentials.
Following the arrival of a vaccine economies began to open back up, however, restarting the behemoth-like supply chains was not as simple as first hoped and issues began to occur resulting in empty shelves and price-gouging on certain products. Experts believed it was all par for the course and was merely a transitory period whilst global supply chains regained their flow. Then Russia invaded Ukraine. Then China locked down Shanghai, the world's largest shipping port. Tanya Beckett takes a closer look at how these two developments have changed the outlook on global inflation. Producer: Christopher Blake Editor: Richard Vadon
Image: Shoppers at a market in Istanbul (Credit: Diego Cupolo/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | What goes into making the business daily podcasts from the BBC World Service? |
| 0:04.8 | Well, first we take a cup full of business news. Naturally. |
| 0:08.0 | Then we add a healthy measure of technology along with a pinch of exciting innovation. |
| 0:14.1 | Business daily from the BBC World Service. Find out more at the end of this podcast. |
| 0:22.7 | Welcome to the inquiry. I'm Tanya Beckett. Each week one question for expert witnesses, |
| 0:30.0 | and an answer. |
| 0:36.1 | Across the world, Muslims were celebrating the end of Ramadan. |
| 0:41.1 | After 30 days of fasting, the Festival of Eid was marked with joyful celebrations |
| 0:46.7 | and a huge feast. But this year a shadow loomed across dinner tables, |
| 0:52.6 | and it had to do with the cost of food. |
| 1:00.3 | In Senegal, in West Africa, a sharp rise in meat prices had left many families struggling |
| 1:06.3 | to afford to make traditional dishes. On top of that, the war in Ukraine had also pushed up |
| 1:12.8 | the cost of wheat and oil, and even the bill for cooking fuel. |
| 1:19.3 | But Senegal was not alone. The crisis affecting household budgets has gripped many people across |
| 1:26.2 | the world. So this week we're asking, is inflation out of control? |
| 1:37.5 | Part one. Part for the course. |
| 1:43.1 | For much of last year, America's central bank was grappling with an awkward problem. |
| 1:48.4 | When pandemic restrictions lifted, there was an uptick in prices, |
| 1:52.4 | and the question was, did it need to take steps to stop it from getting worse? |
| 1:59.6 | When prices go up too quickly, they can start to spiral. So central banks usually |
| 2:05.0 | increase the cost of borrowing so that people stop building up debt to buy things. |
| 2:10.9 | This dampens down demand, and prices tend to settle down. |
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