Public attitudes to inflation and monetary policy

Abstract

Inflation has been volatile in the past three years. This article examines how that has affected households’ attitudes to inflation and to monetary policy more generally. Some of the volatility in inflation has fed through to households’ perceptions of inflation, as measured by the Bank/GfK NOP survey. But inflation expectations have responded less than changes in perceptions: households may have placed weight on the weak economic environment and the inflation target rather than simply extrapolating past trends in prices. Public satisfaction with the Bank, which deteriorated between 2007 and 2009, has improved in recent quarters.