Have we been living on the cheap?

<p>On Wednesday inflation in the UK hit 9% - the highest since the early 1980s.</p><p>A few weeks before&nbsp;in Brussels, Diederik Samsom, the Head of Cabinet in the European Commission, said the age of cheap living in Europe was over and that the cost of living crunch is not a temporary setback - but our new future. Is he right? And if so, what does that future look like?</p><p><em>This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: </em><a href="https://open.acast.com/shows/61ba0e441a8cbeb3393cf13c/episodes/thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes</em></a><em>. </em></p><p><strong>Guest:</strong>&nbsp;Bruno Waterfield, Brussels Correspondent, The Times.</p><p><strong>Host:</strong>&nbsp;David Aaronovitch.</p><p><strong>Clips:</strong> BBC, Sky News, ABC News, CNN, AFP, Parliament TV, Bruegel, TED Talk, On Demand News.</p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.</p>