Sir
Keir
Starmer
has
an
even
greater
majority
than
Tony
Blair
did
25
years
ago,
achieving
a
majority
of
211
on
July
4,
compared
with
179
seats
in
1997.
But
if
a
week
is
a
long
time
in
politics,
a
quarter
of
a
century
is
an
eternity
in
economics
and
personal
finance.
Looking
back
to
prices
and
markets
in
1997,
the
effect
of
inflation
is
clear
to
see.
House
prices,
beer
and
petrol
have
all
been
subject
to
the
relentless
march
of
time,
but
wages
and
weekly
pensions
have
also
risen,
though
at
a
lower
rate.
The
UK
stock
market
is
higher
but
the
FTSE
100’s
gain
of
75%
is
significantly
eclipsed
by
the
S&P
500,
which
rose
by
572%
in
that
period.
The
UK’s
most
valuable
company
is
now
AstraZeneca
(AZN),
but
Shell
–
which
was
Royal
Dutch
Shell
when
it
held
top
spot
in
1997
–
is
still
close
by,
with
a
market
capitalisation
of
£181
billion.
Though
things
may
be
more
expensive
today,
the
UK’s
economy
is
by
no
means
growthier.
The
new
government
would
dearly
love
economic
growth
at
1997
levels,
when
the
economy
grew
at
an
annual
rate
of
nearly
5%,
compared
to
the
expected
0.5%
now.
And
yet
the
UK
economy
is
itself
much
bigger
than
25
years
ago,
though
the
2008-2009
knocked
this
trajectory
off
course.
And
while
inflation
is
superficially
similar
to
1997,
with
CPI
rising
2%
versus
1.6%,
policymakers
at
the
Bank
of
England
are
probably
nostalgic
for
that
era,
when
inflation
was
barely
thought
about
by
politicians
and
economists,
and
the
BoE’s
new-found
independence
was
a
good
news
story
and
not
an
occasional
frustration
to
politicians.
Former
governor
Sir
Mervyn
King
described
this
as
a
“NICE”
era,
which
stood
for
“non-inflationary
constant
expansion.”
And
in
another
25
years?
Well,
who
knows?
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