Three members of the Monetary Policy Committee voted last week to raise Bank Rate to 0.5%, a surprise to say the least. At 2.9%, inflation is above target and heading higher. Yet while employment continues to rise, wage growth is slowing, consumers are under pressure and there is enough uncertainty around to think that tightening monetary policy can wait for a while.
Why the change of tune? Some on the MPC have been surprised by the speed with which inflation has risen and they think that stronger demand from exports and investment spending will help keep growth going, even if the consumer side of the economy is feeling the squeeze. That argument wasn’t strong enough to convince any of the Bank officials to vote for a rise and one of those who voted for a hike has now left the committee. With two vacancies to be filled the MPC’s voting position could be a lot more finely balanced than we’ve been used to.
The clear winner of last week’s election was YouGov, the polling company that got the result just about right. For the rest of us, uncertainty looms. While it’s commonplace to say uncertainty is bad for the economy – and it is – we can read too much into the short-term impact of elections. The medium-term consequences will matter more.
Disruption is perhaps one of the most overused words in business – Amazon disrupted book selling, Uber disrupted taxis, and Airbnb is disrupting hospitality. But disruption has also been a major feature of politics, going as far back as the financial crisis, and including the Eurozone crisis, political turmoil in places like Greece and France, and Trump. 
Business surveys paint a rosy picture of the UK economy. Growth looks healthy. While still-strong job growth is supporting part of the growth in consumers’ spending, the balance is down to increased borrowing. That can’t go on forever. Will investment and exports fill that gap and keep growth on course? That’s the question for the rest of 2017.
The UK economy grew by just 0.2% between January and March, a sharp slowdown from the 0.7% recorded in the final quarter of 2016. The sterling-induced rise in inflation is biting. With prices rising faster than pay, we’re tightening our belts on items of spending that are discretionary: retail, travel and leisure. Expect more of the same for a while.