Introduction

What is the risk of a wage-price spiral? How long will we go on raising interest rates? And are companies’ high profits fuelling inflation? Our host Katie Ranger discusses these questions with our Chief Economist Philip R. Lane on The ECB Podcast. The views expressed are those of the speakers and not necessarily those of the European Central Bank. Published on 23 June 2023 and recorded on 20 June 2023. In this episode: 1:20 – The ECB’s latest monetary policy decisions Why are we raising interest rates again and when will we reach the right rate to bring inflation down to our 2% target? 6:56 – Underlying versus headline inflation: what’s the difference? What do we understand by core, headline and underlying inflation, what role do energy prices play, and which way is inflation going? 15:02 – The risk of a wage-price spiral What is the risk of a wage-price spiral, why can it be dangerous and how can we avoid it? 19:44 – The ‘’greedflation’’ phenomenon Are companies’ widening profit margins driving up inflation – and if so, how will this situation rebalance? 23:47 – Our guest’s hot tip Our guest, Philip R. Lane, recommends that our listeners take a look at the 2023 Young Economist Prize finalists’ papers – and tune in to the ECB Forum on Central Banking to hear the winner being announced. Further reading: The ECB Forum on Central Banking 2023 – Programme https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/conferences/html/20230626_ecb_forum_on_central_banking.en.html Meet the finalists of the 2023 Young Economist Prize https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/conferences/ecbforum/YE_competition/html/index.en.html Our monetary policy statement at a glance – June 2023 https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pressconf/visual-mps/2023/html/mopo_statement_explained_june.en.html European Central Bank www.ecb.europa.eu