Full coverage: Inflation

After a long period of calm in the foreign exchange markets, the tectonic plates are shifting. Expect much more volatility than we've become accustomed to.

Ireland’s public sector unions are gearing up to renegotiate their pay agreement. In the end, the state will pay more, workers will work about the same, and taxes will have to be found to pay for it all. Then, workers in loads of other sectors will ask for more too.

OPEC has the ability to raise production levels of oil quite easily, but it seems that political pressure would have to increase massively before this happens. The bottom line is that consumers will have to get used to higher oil prices.