Is the UK in the grip of ‘greedflation’? - podcast

Prices in the UK are continuing to rise on everything from groceries to energy bills and mortgage costs. Meanwhile, some companies are reporting record profits. Richard Partington reports

Millions of households in the UK are feeling a prolonged pinch as inflation eats away at their standard of living. Rising bills for weekly shopping, energy use and housing costs have meant many people are cutting back on luxuries and essentials.

As the Guardian's economics correspondent, Richard Partington, tells Michael Safi, the story spun by the government has been a simple one: the blame lies with Vladimir Putin and a global pandemic. But not everyone is suffering from these higher costs. Look at the country's top 350 companies and, according to a team of researchers at Unite, the UK's largest private-sector trade union, average profit margins increased from 5.7% in the first half of 2019 to 10.7% in the first half of 2022. It's a concept that is being called greedflation' - where companies are using the alibi of a global crisis to bolster their profit margin by putting up prices more than they could otherwise get away with. So is that what's happening? And if so, what can we do about it?