Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 20 September 2023

Committee on Budgetary Oversight

Pre-Budget Engagement (Resumed): Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and Nevin Economic Research Institute

Professor Michael McMahon:

It is very hard to find subsets of the world who benefit from high inflation. Inflation typically hurts market values for assets and it hurts real spending value. I think what the Deputy is saying, which is absolutely right, is that some people have a sufficient buffer that they do not have to notice the effect of it. Their buffer gets run down a bit more than they thought but they do not have to change their lifestyles. That I would agree with. However, I would not say they are gaining from it. It is very hard to find people who in aggregate gain from high inflation.