Tony G: follow the money - who controls how many £s exist? What is the impact of more or less £s existing? Is there a drift of wealth if someone (or group of people) have the power to create £s out of thin air? - if so, in which direction?

Sam, London,

Tony G: imagine if you were an investor or greedy banker - why would you pay more for something than it is ultimately worth (ie more than someone else would pay)? If it is that easy to make an easy buck why doesn't everyone do it? or can it only be done with the banks' (ie govt via bank) backing?

Sam, London,

Tony G: Sadly the govt has been spending our money on its own pie in the sky projects and initiatives and may have got some real value (ie improvements to our lives) from the vast amount of money spent, but nowhere near as much as if we had spent it ourselves on things and people that we care about

Sam, London,

Clive: despite the general population (mainly the poor and middle class) paying for a luxury cruiser, the govt has given us only a lifeboat. Working together, sharing resources and finding common goals are ideas that can only work with less govt not more.

Sam, London,

Like survivors adrift in a lifeboat all the contributors seem to want to blame someone else for their dire situation. Working together, sharing resources and finding a common goal seem to be ideas that have gone down with the ship. Look out for the Socialist Chinese lifeboat!!!!

Clive Stringer, Eggesford, England

It's not just oil prices that's pushing up inflation it's all the needless legislation that increases business' costs,their prices and our cost of living.Gordon Brown cannot blame it all on world factors - it's time this government stopped doing things that don't need doing and got off all our backs

Andrew, Bristol, UK

Why is everyone blaming the government? Seems to me this downturn was brought about by greedy bankers and oil investors wanting to make a quick buck. The government has used the economic prosperity in the last 10 years to re-invest in our infrastructure and services, which was desperately needed!

Tony G, Ipswich , UK

Sterling is strong? where? Ive just been to france and we are weak against the euro and also the dollar.
The Manufacturing company I work for has had to increase prices by 15% to cover the devalued pound that the government created by dropping interest rates to try to save the housing market.

andy, petersfield,

exactly sam, ever since Black Wednesday, global bankers and speculators have influenced the markets for there own ends the housing market being the classic example. Centeral Banks havel lost thier finacial influence. In a global economy do we need a Bank Of England or people like Soros

del rashid, larkhall, scotland

Sam, I hardly think that sterling is 'strong' against any currency except the poor dollar!! On the contrary..check the figures! It has dropped approx 15-18% against most currencies in the last 11 months. The USD is in a particular mess as it has lowered their rates drastically . Very bad idea too!!

Pedro Tam, London, UK

I thought the main point of the BofE was to deal with inflation and keep the economy stable. If that is the case then interest rates should rise, there are some losers out there, mostly those who took silly risks, but some will feel gains and the economy will recover quicker. RAISE EM UP G DOG!

Sunny Patel, Coventry,

Neil
It is because they are greedy that they will invest!
Seriously though, the problem is the govt spending too much of our money and giving it to their mates in big companies (and other favours).
Not sure what you mean by exchange rate faults (sterling is strong right now).

Sam, London,

Free trade is you and me del! There are not really any free markets left any more (electronics/computers is probably the most and that gives great value year on year).
There is no free market/trade in banking/money - look at how the BoE/govt takes risk away from and throws money at the banks!!!

Sam, London,

John,
Inflation is caused by too much money chasing too few goods. Changing the tax base will have only second order effects (not all good!).
The not so simple solution is to increase savings and real investment (through dramatic cutbacks in govt spending and taxes).
Regards

Sam, London,

John,
Inflation is caused through too much money chasing too few goods. Changing the tax base will have only second order effects (and not all good ones!).
The not so simple solution is to increase savings and real investment (through dramatic reductions in govt spending and taxes).

Sam, London,

I don't see how increasing interest rates will assist. High commodity prices are caused by world demand, and increasing UK interest rates will not stem world demand. Another solution has to be found....step forward Mr Brown....

Luke, Ipswich, UK

The underlying principles of free trade have no ethical or a social conscious to its effects .The Bank of England and to a large extent our Governments have lost contol of the free market.
Regardless of the interest rates the BOE set , the banks and profiteers set the price and terms.
it sucks

del rashid, larkhall, scotland

what more can we cut back on - the basics are going up but we need to buy them - we have no choice. There is very little extravagance so increasing interest rates will make matters worse.

ian, london,

Greedy company executives and shareholders need to re-invest for the future now.
No more large mega-billion pound profit lines, just real people in a real world.
Exchange rate faults will leave us open to investors from abroad buying all our housing stock otherwise.

Neil, Maidstone,

Inflation is rising due to energy costs & the increased cost of capital. Whilst increasing inflation "may" cause some households to hold back on expenditure the same cannot be said for companies. Increasing inflation will end up increasing the manufacturing cost thus creating a spiral in inflation

David, Southampton, UK

Very simple solution:

Abolish Tax on Fuel and the inflationary pressure on UK-sourced food & goods on transport in the supply chain vanishes.

Prices are cheaper & more profit is made.

Recover the revenue by increasing tax on large companies & people with Income/Capital Gains over £200k/year

John, London,

It looks now as though the BoE is set on crushing the UK economy.

They need to think through the logic of raising interest rates in these circumstances. Sure if everyone ends up thrown out of work there will be no inflation whatever.

MarkS, Leeds,