The latest ‘public attitudes’ survey conducted by the Bank of England, indicates that the public's fear of inflation has soared to its highest level in recent years. The typical rate given by respondents for inflation over the past year is 3.2% in November, which is much above the highest rate of 2.8% in August since the survey began in late 1999.

Also climbing up was the public's expectations for inflation in the year ahead which reached 3%, up from the previous high of 2.7% in August. Although inflation, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index, was down to 2.1% in October, 75% of those respondents expect inflation to exceed 2% in the year ahead, which is another high. "High-visibility" food and fuel inflation seems to have bolstered the public's perceptions on inflation.

 

 

We don’t have a traditional strategy process, planning process like you’d find in traditional technical companies. It allows Google to innovate very, very quickly, which I think is a real strength of the company.