Higher interest rates impact workers disproportionately compared to corporations in European inflation response (socialeurope.eu)

• ECB rate hikes cut output by 1% of GDP per 100 bps while only reducing prices by 0.25%.
• Shareholder payouts rose 13 times faster than wages in 2023; corporate investment fell.
• ETUC calls for price controls on essentials, windfall taxes, and strategic public ownership.

"According to an article by ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch on Social Europe, the European Central Bank's interest rate hikes are a blunt tool that reduces output by 1% of GDP per 100 basis point increase while only reducing prices by 0.25%. The piece argues that inflation is partly driven by profit margin expansion in concentrated sectors (energy, food, housing), not solely by excess demand. It notes that shareholder payouts rose 13 times faster than wages in 2023 while corporate investment fell. The ETUC proposes stronger collective bargaining, windfall taxes, public ownership, and price controls on essentials to address the cost-of-living crisis."