Cost of living crisis: we can’t borrow our way out of this

Racking up debt to deal with a cost of living crisis is crazy, says Matthew Lynn. We should cut our coat according to our cloth.

Person filling a car with fuel
The cost of necessities is soaring
(Image credit: © Alamy)

There is no question that households are feeling the worst squeeze on their budgets for the last 30 years. Inflation has already hit 9%, and may well climb to 10% by next month. An average car costs £100 to fill up with petrol and groceries are more expensive than ever. With wages only rising by 3%-4% at most, people are getting poorer and many are already cutting back on what they spend simply to stay afloat.

The plastic takes the strain

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Matthew Lynn

Matthew Lynn is a columnist for Bloomberg, and writes weekly commentary syndicated in papers such as the Daily Telegraph, Die Welt, the Sydney Morning Herald, the South China Morning Post and the Miami Herald. He is also an associate editor of Spectator Business, and a regular contributor to The Spectator. Before that, he worked for the business section of the Sunday Times for ten years. 

He has written books on finance and financial topics, including Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis and The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031. Matthew is also the author of the Death Force series of military thrillers and the founder of Lume Books, an independent publisher.