Huw Pill, the Bank of England’s chief economist, took a tactless approach last month to explaining life’s realities amid high inflation, saying that people should simply accept that they are now worse off than they used to be. But after resounding criticism, Pill apologized for his remarks this week—kind of.
Pill was slammed by other economists, trade unions, and even his own boss last month after he called inflation a game of “pass the parcel” during a podcast interview produced by Columbia Law School. He explained that companies raising their prices or individuals asking for higher wages were passing on the effects of inflation to the wider economy, instead of just coming to terms with the fact that they were poorer than before.
