In general, sentiment in the agricultural South and West was favourable to inflation, while industrial and financial groups in the Northeast opposed any move to inflate the currency, holding that this would benefit debtors at the expense of creditors.
In the late 1990s, for example, the economic background appeared very favourable, with growth buoyant, inflation low and profits rising strongly.
The high level of employment, favourable wage agreements and slowing inflation are buoying sentiment".
In particular, are central banks responsible for the favourable trade-off between unemployment and inflation over the last ten years?
Chris Williamson, Markit There are lots of reasons to believe that growth could pick up again in a favourable environment of rising wages, low inflation and low interest rates, meaning the UK should enjoy another year of solid economic growth in 2015..
But to critics of the ECB, who believe that the 2% ceiling for its inflation goal is too low, "favourable" might imply a rise in inflation.
The agency highlighted "favourable macroeconomic trends, including strong GDP growth, falling unemployment and inflation close to the 2% target" and said growth was the "least volatile among the major advanced economies".
Fitch did note that the UK has improved since December, saying: "favourable macroeconomic trends, including strong GDP growth, falling unemployment and inflation close to the 2.0 percent target, have continued in the UK economy" It reckons the UK will grow at a healthy 3% this year, and 2.5% in 2015.
Although the gap has closed a little, fear that devaluation will lead only to yet higher inflation explains continued high demand for dollars, even at the less favourable exchange rate.
It means that more egalitarian views are associated with favourable economic conditions, i.e. higher Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, lower unemployment rate and lower inflation.
