The Long View

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Factual: History

History series in which stories from the past shed light on current events

Jonathan Freedland presents the series in which stories from the past are compared with current events.

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The Long View: Inflation and the cost of living crisis

Inflation and the cost of living crisis

BBC Radio 4 - The Long View, Inflation and the cost of living crisis

Jonathan Freedland explores today's inflation alongside historic inflation spikes.

Jonanthan Freedland returns with the Long View of Inflation, comparing today's gathering cost of living pressures with inflation peaks in the 1920s and 1970s.

With the warning of potential double digit inflation on the way and the already very real cost of living crisis, Jonathan Freedland is joined by Economic Historians Albrecht Ritschl and Duncan Needham to compare today's situation with the context, causes and impact of UK inflation spikes in the 1920s and the 1970s.
Economies rarely fall prey to single drivers, but war, pandemic, international oil price and food costs have all been part of Britain's story in the past.  Jonathan discovers how politicians dealt with inflation in the 1920s and 1970s, what the costs of their interventions were, and to what extent the insights of hindsight might help an approach to today's growing pressures.

Producer:  Tom Alban

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Inflation and the cost of living crisis

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