UK inflation up to 4.4% in July

LittleMissAspie

Interest rate doesn't really matter on student loans, you still pay the same each month. I've got no chance of paying mine off ever, even with no interest at all it would take me 50 years.

Inflation sucks but I'm more worried about the risk of unemployment, personally.

MrDT

LittleMissAspie wrote: »

Interest rate doesn't really matter on student loans, you still pay the same each month. I've got no chance of paying mine off ever, even with no interest at all it would take me 50 years.

It makes a difference if you are going to pay it off though... Repayments may be fixed (9% of anything you earn over 15k iirc), but a higher interest rate compounding away would mean it'd take much longer to repay the loan.

Are you really never going to pay it off? Do you not expect to earn much over 15k ever? What about in say 25 years time? I think most people will pay it off eventually tbh!

lkalka

tr3mor wrote: »

If the pound was stronger then food and fuel would be cheaper.

How do we make the pound stronger? Raise interest rates!!

Somebody making sense at last, can you shout it a bit louder please?

At the moment there is no understanding by the general public that inflation is bad because it's not in the media interest to get that message across.

People want cheaper prices and lower interest rates. It just doesn't work that way.
To be honest it's not in the average persons interest eanyway because cuts are not being passed on and inflation will just get worse.

If raising interest rates strengthened the £ then imports would be cheaper hence bringing inflation down.

That message needs to be put across but nobody is willing to spread the news.

All the VI are interested in is spreading the word that interest rates should be slashed and the world would be a rosier place!

steadysaver

MrDT wrote: »

It makes a difference if you are going to pay it off though... Repayments may be fixed (9% of anything you earn over 15k iirc), but a higher interest rate compounding away would mean it'd take much longer to repay the loan.

Are you really never going to pay it off? Do you not expect to earn much over 15k ever? What about in say 25 years time? I think most people will pay it off eventually tbh!

Exactly. I would like to think that I won't be paying it off forever. But if earning don't keep up with inflation and you have a big loan, it could do.

In the next few years people will be coming out of Uni with 35k + of debt. At 5% thats ~ £145 a month in interest. Even if you earn the average wage of 25k (which is not usually where most graduates start) they will only be paying back £75pm.

Those figures dont make sense on so many levels

steadysaver

lkalka wrote: »

Somebody making sense at last, can you shout it a bit louder please?

At the moment there is no understanding by the general public that inflation is bad because it's not in the media interest to get that message across.

People want cheaper prices and lower interest rates. It just doesn't work that way.
To be honest it's not in the average persons interest eanyway because cuts are not being passed on and inflation will just get worse.

If raising interest rates strengthened the £ then imports would be cheaper hence bringing inflation down.

That message needs to be put across but nobody is willing to spread the news.

All the VI are interested in is spreading the word that interest rates should be slashed and the world would be a rosier place!

Even if interest rates were cut, and inflation remained high, surely banks would set there own interest rates away from BoE rates anyway. No bank is going to lend at 4% when inflation is 4-5% +. They will essentially be giving money away.

So why are these people so keen to see lower rates even with higher inflation... or have I got it all wrong

lkalka

steadysaver wrote: »

Even if interest rates were cut, and inflation remained high, surely banks would set there own interest rates away from BoE rates anyway. No bank is going to lend at 4% when inflation is 4-5% +. They will essentially be giving money away.

So why are these people so keen to see lower rates even with higher inflation... or have I got it all wrong

Joe Public want the interest rates reduced because: -
1/ They are fed by the media that it's a good thing
2/ They are being told it doesn't matter about inflation because this inflation is different (it's from external sources lol)
3/ Interest rate being reduced mean lower mortgage payments........don't they?

WTF?_2

lkalka wrote: »

Joe Public want the interest rates reduced because: -
1/ They are fed by the media that it's a good thing
2/ They are being told it doesn't matter about inflation because this inflation is different (it's from external sources lol)
3/ Interest rate being reduced mean lower mortgage payments........don't they?

Yes - the old "We can't do anything about the inflation since it's imported". Except of course raise interest rates which would strengthen the pound and at least apply downward pressure to the price of imports (less pounds needed to buy the same amount of oil, gas or food). But let's not mention that, eh?

Oh, and whatever you do - don't ask for more pay. Because that would cause inflation. Never mind that we already have crushing price rises as a direct result of the inflation caused by years of too-low interest rates stoking an already booming economy and creating excess amounts of 'new money'.....


Bottom line is that our debt-junkie nation doesn't want the withdrawal symptoms, so keep jacking that needle in.

tomstickland

I just heard Yvette Cooper in an interview on radio 4 saying that
"the government have been cutting taxes, and the inflation figures are part of a problem shared by the whole of Europe".

What taxes?

The old "it's not our fault" argument again too.

mewbie_2

!!!!!!? wrote: »

Yes - the old "We can't do anything about the inflation since it's imported".

Of couse it's imported, everything is imported.

Although I did out of curiosity check the origin of some typical products the other day, and surprisingly the chopsticks were produced in Bristol.