COP 26

The COP 26 climate change summit that opened in Glasgow on Sunday has been billed as “the last chance to save the planet”. The sense of urgency is palpable, the pressure on politicians to agree to something meaningful is considerable. But even if, against the odds, the conference is a huge success and governments commit to serious action, the hard work of convincing ordinary people that many aspects of our lives, many things we take for granted, are going to have to change has barely begun.

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Central banks and the return of inflation

The evidence is growing that inflation in western economies is going to be both higher than was at first predicted, and last for longer than was hoped. Yet central banks continue to claim that it is transitory, and seem very reluctant to do very much to counter it. Given that previous generations of central bankers were determined to act early and aggressively against threatened inflation, this needs some explaining.

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