I love the analysis, clarity and comment given by The Economist newspaper. It's not the only newspaper that is jacking up its prices, but even so, I was fairly gutted to see that my annual renewal will rise from £155 in January 2016 to £179 in January 2017. Yes, there's a paltry £10 discount for one year only, for taking the Direct Debit option, and there are multi-year options but these demand a big up-front payment. It's a hell of a jump.
I decided to look at prices paid over the last 10 years and compare them against UK Consumer Price Inflation. This year the difference between the inflation-adjusted price, £134, and the inflated price, is £45. That's not a happy sight for anyone on a fixed income.
Method used: the Bank of England inflation calculator, which currently covers Consumer Price Inflation for years up to 2015, to work out inflation-adjusted prices based on £99 in 2006, and then use current number for UK 2016 CPI Average inflation given by inflation.eu to for the last point on the chart. Prices paid taken from my records.
