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The impossibility of measuring inflation in a pandemic

Inaccurate data is not just a problem for economists

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People can tolerate their central heating failing in summer. They tend to miss it rather more when it goes in the depths of winter. Accurate and timely economic statistics are similar: British economists have long grown used to the Office for National Statistics (ons) providing reliable data; now, at the time of greatest need, the data are about to become considerably dodgier. On April 22nd the ons reported that consumer-price inflation fell to 1.5% in March, down from 1.7% in February. The numbers over the next few months will bear less relation to reality…“READ MORE…”

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