Have interest rates peaked? After an inflation spike rudely awoke them from their slumbers, the Bank of England and the US Federal Reserve have shown us that rate hiking can be a difficult habit to break. But 14 consecutive rate rises into an astonishing run from 0.1% to 5.25% for the base rate, the Bank of England suddenly paused six weeks ago. And then, on Thursday, it did it again. On both of those occasions, the Fed had also just done the same thing across the Atlantic. So, are we finally there? When does a pause become a peak? And if we have reached the top of the interest rate cycle, what happens next? Georgie Frost, Helen Crane and Simon Lambert look at the decision to hold rates again and what it means for savers, mortgage borrowers and investors. Plus, what are Andrew Bailey’s Bank of England and Jay Powell’s Fed telling us about their respective economies – and how divergent are the paths of the UK and US? Also on this episode, Crane on the Case digs into a how an entirely explainable and obvious error somehow led to a reader facing more than £8,000 of fines and Transport for London refusing to budge until we stepped in. Plus, some previous high-flying investment trusts are going cheap, so is this the time to invest? Simon takes a look. And finally, what have the Premium Bonds and a pop quiz on number one hits in 2000 and 2008 got to do with each other? Listen to the end if you want to find out why you need to know that the UK number one, in February 2008, was Duffy singing Mercy.
