Fuel and travel costs are pushing prices up again
Thursday 5 November 2026
Inflation has risen to 3.1%, meaning everyday spending is getting more expensive just as household budgets are already under pressure.
Market power
A business's ability to influence prices or conditions because customers or suppliers have limited alternatives.
Key term
What it means
A firm has market power if it can put up prices, lower quality or worsen other terms without quickly losing so many customers that the move is pointless. A buyer of labour or supplies can also have power over the people selling to it. Strong brands, hard-to-enter markets or few useful alternatives can all matter. A big market share can be a clue, but is not proof: competition can still be fierce among a small number of firms.
Example
Suppose a town has one nearby supplier of an essential service, and switching to another would be difficult. That supplier may have room to raise its price without losing many customers. Whether it actually has market power needs evidence about people's alternatives.
Why it matters
Market power can affect what customers pay, what workers earn and the choices available to both.
Related terms
-
Barriers to entry
Obstacles that make it hard for a new business to start competing in a market.
Read more -
Economic rent
An earning above the amount needed to keep a person or resource in its current use.
Read more -
Market concentration
How much of a market's sales or activity is accounted for by its largest businesses.
Read more -
Monopoly
A market with only one seller of a particular good or service and no close alternative for buyers.
Read more -
Monopsony
A market with one buyer and many possible sellers, including workers seeking an employer.
Read more -
Oligopoly
A market in which a small number of businesses make most of the sales.
Read more -
Price elasticity of demand
How strongly the amount people buy responds when its price changes.
Read more -
Rent seeking
Trying to gain or protect an extra reward by securing an advantage, rather than by providing more or better goods or services.
Read more -
Windfall profits
Profits that rise unexpectedly because of an outside event rather than a planned improvement by the business.
Read more
Keep in the loop
News
Highlights from about the UK economy, the UK government and the UK public sector.
Mortgage relief will have to wait a little longer
Wednesday 4 November 2026
Interest rates are staying at 3.75%, so households with mortgages and other borrowing may have to wait longer for costs to come down.
Energy bills are going up as winter approaches
Wednesday 4 November 2026
A higher energy price cap means many households will be paying more to heat and power their homes during the colder months.
Guides and insights
Analysis
Clear, accessible analysis of the economic issues shaping everyday life
Living standards
What does a day’s work buy?
Comparing the cost of everyday life across generations, from bread and beer to buying a home.
Food & prices
The journey behind your grocery bill
How farming, energy, transport and supermarket competition shape the price on the shelf.
Prices & inflation
Inflation is falling. What happens next?
What slower price rises mean for wages, purchasing power and economic recovery.
Shared prosperity
What would shared prosperity look like?
Beyond GDP: how we could measure economic success through security, opportunity and living standards.
Let's work together
Get in touch
We're looking to work with individuals and organisations who can contribute funding, expertise, data, technology, or strategic connections to help build better economic tools and research.