A week or two can make a big difference in monetary policy. The Bank of England meeting on 19 March will take place in a very different environment from the one that prevailed only a few weeks ago. The US–Israeli attacks on Iran that began on 28 February have triggered a sharp rise in energy prices and revived concerns about a new energy driven inflation shock. That development has complicated what had previously looked like a relatively clear monetary policy outlook. Before the escalation in the Middle East, the debate around the Bank of England was moving steadily in one direction: towards rate cuts. The UK economy ... (full story)