From the executive editor...
I joined MoneyWeek 17 years ago, in August 2005. The Labour government had recently won its third election in a row under Tony Blair, with hand-wringing columnists bemoaning pitiful turnout levels and general voter apathy. The oil price had just breached the $60-a-barrel mark for the first time ever. Inflation in the UK was 2.4% and the Bank of England – rattled by signs of a mild slowdown, driven in part by high oil prices – had just cut interest rates by a quarter point from 4.75% to 4.5%, a gesture which helped to inject unwelcome energy into what had been a slowing housing market. The average UK house price, according to Nationwide, was about £158,000, having doubled in just five years, and plenty of us thought that was unaffordable. Since…