The unemployment rate in Britain is near 8 percent, having risen sharply during its recession, yet inflation is now approaching 5 percent and has been steadily rising for nearly two years.
Perhaps this is simply because of the greater number of international meetings at which the Fund is asked for its view, but my sense is that international official bodies and their domestic counterparts are shifting their assessments unusually quickly as they attempt to grapple with the unfolding situation. Monetary policy is being eased aggressively around the world. So is fiscal policy.