'You Didn't Do It!' Minister Slapped Down By Major Economist After Taking Credit For Inflation Drop

  (The Huffington Post) : Joseph Stiglitz fact-checked Bim Afolami on BBC Question Time over inflation A minister was fact-checked by a leading economist on BBC Question Time last night after he tried to take responsibility for the recent fall in inflation. The award-winning Joseph Stiglitz needed just four words to take apart Bim Afolami, the economic secretary to the Treasury: “You didn’t do it.” The key moment arose when the minister began blaming the UK’s financial woes on the combined effect of the Covid pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  He said: “I think that made things very very challenging. Inflation went up globally. “Now, we’ve worked very hard, in partnership with the Bank of England – it’s not all down to the central banks, but they have a key role to play – interest rates did go up and have gone up.” “Affecting the cost of living,” Stiglitz interjected. “Of course,” Afolami continued: “We’ve brought inflation down from 11.1% to 3.4, 3.2%.” The economist cut in again: “You didn’t do it, the market did it.” The audience broke out into a round of applause at that. Afolami tried to speak over the clapping, saying: “No, no, no. What I started by saying was that we worked in partnership with the Bank of England, it’s not entirely one actor.” The government does set the target rate for inflation (currently 2%). However, it’s up to the independent Bank of England to use the interest rate – which decides the cost of borrowing money – to influence how people spend and therefore control inflation. When inflation was at a 40-year high in October 2022, triggering the cost of living ..