High inflation doesn't matter: high inflation and low wage growth matters. Since the crisis, the growth in wages has been resolutely outstripped by growth in prices, making it harder to get by for many.

While the short period of deflation raised wages in real terms, the positive effect of that has been more than outstripped by the almost two years of inflation being considerably higher wage growth. In real terms, this is equivalent to a 4 per cent cut in the average wage two years running. Things are even worse for those in the public sector, who have experienced a pay freeze for the last two years and will have only 1 per cent pay rises for the two years after that.

While inflation has been falling rapidly for the last six months, the most recent information suggested that fall may be coming to a halt. While RPI, charted above, still fell by 0.1 percentage point, CPI actually rose by the same amount. If inflation does indeed stop falling, it will be 1.5 per cent above the Bank of England's 2 per cent target, and 2 per cent above wage inflation.