Based on the data released by Office for National Statistics released earlier today, and used in articles elsewhere, the following two charts have been added to our Flickr account.

Monthly change in the Consumer Prices Index and the year-on-year CPI inflation rate. Period: September 2007 through September 2009. Size 750 x 450 pixels.

Inflation’s Ups and Downs. [...]

A variation on the Property Price Performance Across Five Currencies chart, from 28 September, has been added to our Flickr account. Usual Creative Commons licensing rules applies.

Maximum size is 750 x 450 pixels.

Based on the latest Nationwide Consumer Confidence Indices 4-in-1 chart, as updated yesterday with the September data, two charts have been added to our Flickr account. Which means, subject to the usual Creative Commons requirements, they are useable.

All four indices covering September 2007 through September 2009. Size 515 x 350 pixels.

The very telling gap [...]

A variation on the Euro Health Care chart, from 23 September, has been added to our Flickr account. Usual Creative Commons licensing rules applies.

Maximum size is 750 x 450 pixels.

Today’s release of data from Land Registry showed prices fairly flat in August, with the average house price in England and Wales £155,968, down 0.1% on the month and 9.4% on the year.
In US$ they rose $2,367 to $257,955. In Yen, up ¥374,219 to ¥2.451 million. The Euro price was down €625 to €180,876 and [...]

The last couple of weeks have seen a myriad of headlines expressing fears of imminent recession. The Government claim GDP growth is still holding above the negative. But how reflective of the situation are their numbers?

At first glance the statistics on buy-to-let mortgage numbers, arrears and repossessions would seem not that bad. That BTLers are weathering the current market better than encumbered owner-occupiers. However, closer inspection would suggest that the BTL bad debts are surging.

Revised GDP growth figures, released earlier today, put reduced
quarter-on-quarter GDP growth to zero, from a previous 0.2%, taking the year-on-year growth rate down to 1.4%.
The problem I have is that those figures use the Government’s preferred method of calculation, applying their GDP Expenditure Deflator. A deflator which is substantially less than CPI, let alone RPI [...]

Inflation figures manage to not surprise on two counts. 1. Both RPI and CPI price inflation are up. 2. Government wonks respond with, “Well, it is much less than the early 90s”. The unanswered question. How does the current secular bull in inflation compare with the 1959-1975 secular bull?

The latest GDP figures confirm the deteriorating economy and substantiate the predictions made in 2006, that there will be a recession in 2008 as GDP growth turns negative.