The White House on Tuesday ripped Speaker Kevin McCarthy for ‘flip-flopping’ on his impeachment stance and insisted House Republicans have no evidence of wrong doing on President Joe Biden after nine months of investigations.

‘House Republicans have been investigating the President for 9 months, and they’ve turned up no evidence of wrongdoing,’ White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations Ian Sams said in a statement.

‘His own Republican members have said so. He vowed to hold a vote to open impeachment, now he flip flopped because he doesn’t have support. This is extreme politics at its worst,’ Sams added of McCarthy.

The speaker on Tuesday stunned Washington when he officially opened an impeachment inquiry into Biden in a shock statement accusing the president of an ‘abuse of power and being involved in a ‘culture of corruption’ over son Hunter’s foreign business deals. 

Biden has an impeachment war room set up at the White House, filled with dozens of lawyers and aides to help him battle House Republicans. The war room is based in the White House counsel’s office and staffed by lawyers, legislative aides and communications staffers who will act aggressively against Republicans’ investigations. Sams is part of that effort.

And Biden’s presidential campaign called the impeachment inquiry ‘baseless’ and accused McCarthy of giving into demands to Donald Trump. Trump has pushed his allies on Capitol Hill to investigate Biden as he was investigated by Democrats.

The Biden campaigned described McCarthy’s move as election-year politics.  

‘As Donald Trump ramped up his demands for a baseless impeachment inquiry, Kevin McCarthy cemented his role as the Trump campaign’s super-surrogate by turning the House of Representatives into an arm of his presidential campaign,’ Ammar Moussa, spokesperson for Biden-Harris 2024, said in a statement.

Some Biden allies have argued the impeachment proceeding could help the president as he heads into next year’s presidential contest, firing up Democratic and swing voters in Biden’s favor.

Trump successfully used his impeachments to rally his base and raise millions for his political fundraising committees. 

And some Senate Republicans have the same concer, that the impeachment could backfire against them and give Biden a boost in the 2024 election, CNN reported. 

They’re also worried it could distract voters from their effort to blame Biden on rising inflation and the troubled economy. 

But McCarthy, under heavy pressure from the conservative wing of his party and facing threats to his speakership, declared the inquiry would begin. 

‘House Republicans have uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden’s conduct,’ McCarthy said, speaking at the Capitol on Tuesday. ‘Taken together these allegations paint a picture of a culture of corruption.’

‘These are allegations of abuse of power, obstruction and corruption. And they warrant further investigation by the House of Representatives. That’s why today I am directing our House committee to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden,’ he noted.

‘This logical next step will give our committees, the full power to gather all the facts and answers for the American public. That’s exactly what we want to know the answers.’

Republicans have charged Biden and his family made millions off shell companies Hunter Biden formed when his father was vice president. Hunter had business deals with an energy company in the Ukraine, received a discounted stake in a private-equity firm in China, and did consulting for a Romanian real-estate magnate.

The president has denied any involvement in his son’s business dealings. But Republicans claim at least a dozen Biden family members could be involved in a scheme to benefit financially from Biden’s public office. 

House investigators are expected to issue subpoenas for the bank records of the president and his family. The GOP also claim Biden sat in on at least 24 calls with Hunter’s business partners and was referred to as ‘the big guy’ by Hunter’s business associates. And they say Joe Biden used pseudonyms to discuss his activities related to Ukraine with his son Hunter during his time as vice president.

An inquiry is the first step in the impeachment process. It is when evidence is gathered for the articles, or charges, of impeachment against an official.

It is a massive step with many pitfalls, including infuriating Republican moderates and many GOP senators, who are skeptical of the issue and causing friction with the White House as budget negotiations are underway. Congress faces a September 30th deadline to fund the government or it will shutdown.

McCarthy, however, is under intense pressure from the conservative wing of his party to make such a move, including threats from some of his own GOP lawmakers to remove him from the speakership.

The White House has repeatedly denied Biden has conducted any wrongdoing. The president himself has said he was not involved with any of Hunter’s business deals. 

Some of Hunter’s former associates, however, have testified that Joe Biden spoke to Hunter’s business associates but the president’s defenders say it was quick conversation and merely cordial, not related to any dealmaking. 

Joe Biden also used various private email addresses from which he would sometimes send, receive and forward government correspondence according to emails found on Hunter Biden’s now-infamous laptop.

‘Robin Ware,’ ‘Robert L. Peters’ and ‘JRB ware’ were three pseudonyms used on emails that were about both official and family business.

The White House argues it’s common for public figures to use false names. 

McCarthy charged Biden was involved.

‘Eye witnesses have testified that the President joined on multiple phone calls, and had multiple interactions, dinners, resulted in cars and millions of dollars into his son’s and his son’s business partners,’ he said. 

It’s estimated Hunter raked in $40 million through 20 shell companies and fake accounts created while Joe Biden was vice president, at the same time the elder Biden was joining Hunter’s business calls and stopping by at lavish dinners.

The speaker justified his decision, claiming Biden’s family got special treatment from the government. 

‘It appears that the president’s family has been offered special treatment by Biden’s own administration – treatment that not otherwise would have received if they were not related to the President,’ he noted.

He did not specify how the Bidens got special treatment but House Republicans have demanded records from the Justice, State, and Treasury Departments as part of their probe. Hunter is under investigation by a special counsel and faced an IRS investigation about his taxes.

Hunter Biden has denied any wrong doing. 

House Republicans have been investigating the president and his family since they took control of the lower chamber in January.

Republican Rep. James Comer, chairman of the Oversight Committee, claims there could be upwards of 12 Biden family members who benefitted from influence peddling by the president and Hunter.

While most names have not yet been revealed, Comer previously said that suspicious activity reports (SARs) reviewed by Republicans on the panel have found that President Biden’s brother Jim Biden and his son Beau’s widow Hallie Biden benefited from foreign business deals.

Comer accused Hallie Biden of influence peddling by receiving a $35,000 payment linked to a Chinese firm.

The reports from earlier this year claimed that Hallie received a cut of the $3 million from China sent to an associate of Hunter Biden, whom she dated from 2016-2019 after her husband Beau died of brain cancer.

The White House, at the time, released a blistering statement accusing Republicans of orchestrating an ‘attack’ on Hallie.

Members of the Biden family could get dragged into the impeachment probe.

‘We know that bank records show that nearly $20 million in payments were directed to the Biden family members and associates through various shale companies,’ McCarthy said on Tuesday.

When House Republicans meet on Thursday behind closed doors in the Capitol, the two committee chairmen leading the probes of the Biden family – Reps. Jim Jordan of the Judiciary Committee and Comer – will lay out their findings thus far.

Jordan, Comer and Republican Rep. Jason Smith of the Ways and Means Committee will lead the probe. 

‘I do not make this decision lightly,’ McCarthy said Tuesday.

‘I would encourage the President and his team to fully cooperate with this investigation,’ he added. ‘We are committed to getting the answers for the American public. Nothing more, nothing less. We will go wherever the evidence takes us.’

Three separate Republican-led committees have investigated allegations that Hunter Biden leveraged his father’s vice presidency to secure foreign business deals that made the family a mint.

Hunter is already facing legal issues. Federal prosecutors plan to indict Hunter on illegal gun charges that have a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail by the end of September.

David Weiss, a U.S. attorney appointed by then-President Donald Trump, has been leading the Justice Department probe into the first son. He was given special counsel status last month amid concerns from Republicans that Weiss didn’t have the authority to conduct a proper investigation.

An impeachment inquiry could mean Hunter is brought before Congress to answer questions. 

McCarthy, in announcing the inquiry, is using his unilateral power as speaker to begin the impeachment process. Nancy Pelosi did the same when she was speaker to begin both of Donald Trump’s impeachments.

The entire House could vote to begin impeachment proceedings but there were questions as whether McCarthy could wrangle the 218 votes from House Republicans to authorize it. Some moderate GOP lawmakers have been skeptical of the need for an impeachment inquiry. 

So far, House Republicans have uncovered no evidence that Joe Biden has personally profited off his son Hunter’s business arrangements. 

McCarthy said last month that an impeachment inquiry would only happen with a formal House vote.

‘To open an impeachment inquiry is a serious matter, and House Republicans would not take it lightly or use it for political purposes. The American people deserve to be heard on this matter through their elected representatives,’ McCarthy told Breitbart News 

‘That’s why, if we move forward with an impeachment inquiry, it would occur through a vote on the floor of the People’s House and not through a declaration by one person.’

In a full House vote, he’d only be able to lose five Republicans. Some had already cast doubt. 

Moderate Republican Reps. Ken Buck of Colorado and Don Bacon of Nebraska have voiced skepticism of the impeachment inquiry. 

But McCarthy is facing other threats.   

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a close Trump ally, has said she wouldn’t vote to fund the government without an impeachment inquiry against Biden. 

Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, another ally of the former president, has said if McCarthy stands in the way of the impeachment process, he’d move to remove him from the speakership.

He doubled down on that threat on Tuesday.

Speaking on the House floor shortly after McCarthy announced the impeachment inquiry into the president Gaetz warned: ‘Focus on balanced budgets and term limits, subpoenas for Hunter Biden…and impeachment for Joe Biden…Do these things or face a motion to vacate the chair.’

McCarthy became speaker after a deal with the conservative wing of the Republican Party issued a list of demands – including the ability to call a quick vote to ‘vacate the chair’ and remove him from office.

Now that threat hangs over McCarthy’s every move like the sword of damocles.

The speaker is also dealing with a ticking clock when it comes to avoiding a government shutdown. 

If Congress doesn’t pass a bill to fund the government by the end of the month, there will be a partial shutdown. Given the Congressional schedule, there are just 11 working days to do that.

The White House has suggested passing a temporary resolution to keep the government open through the end of the year while negotiations continue.

McCarthy is trying to float a 30-day stopgap measure that would keep things running until  Nov. 1, but conservatives are balking at what’s called a continuing resolution.

The White House has requested that resolution contain $16 billion in disaster relief funds and $24 billion for the Ukraine. Many Republicans want to cut off funding for the Ukraine.

Nikki Haley ramps up criticism of ‘thin-skinned’ and ‘easily distracted’ Trump: 2024 hopeful says he’s ‘weak in the knees’ on Ukraine in most direct attack on her rival – as she rises in the polls

• GOP presidential hopeful Nikki Haley said Thursday that history will remember former President Donald Trump as ‘thin-skinned and easily distracted’ 
• She’s touring New Hampshire as she rises in the polls in the Granite State
• Haley, who served as Trump’s U.N. ambassador, was asked how the ex-president will be remembered 100 years from now 

By Nikki Schwab, Senior U.S. Political Reporter For Dailymail.Com In Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Published: 15:26 EDT, 21 September 2023 | Updated: 15:28 EDT, 21 September 2023

Update: The Bank of England held interest rates today at 5.25 per cent – this column has had figures updated to reflect that.

Inflation was revealed to have dipped again yesterday to 6.7 per cent – a figure that just two years ago would have been seen as horrifyingly high but is now seen as something to be pleased about.

Despite the CPI reading still being a chunky number, it’s an important step on the road back to the ‘old normal’ – where both interest rates and wage rises are higher than inflation.

This is Money readers will not need reminding that falling inflation doesn’t mean life is getting cheaper, just that it’s getting more expensive at a slightly slower rate.

They will also be acutely aware a combination of CPI inflation at 9.9 per cent in August last year and 6.7 per cent this year, means the pound in their pocket has lost almost 17 per cent of its value in just two years.

But the ONS’s latest inflation figures did still contain two bits of good news.

Firstly, although inflation only inched down from 6.8 per cent to 6.7 per cent, this was a fall when a rise to about 7.1 per cent was widely forecast.

Secondly, core inflation – the reading that strips out volatile energy and food prices and tax-heavy alcohol and tobacco – fell back to 6.2 per cent from 6.9 per cent in July.

These two things point to inflation heading in the right direction, albeit it is highly likely a jump in petrol prices driven by the oil price spiking may push CPI higher next month.

Nonetheless, inflation is on its way down and economists suggest it could be below 5 per cent by the end of the year and keep declining towards the 2 per cent target throughout 2024.

A major contraction in money supply – the amount of new money being created in the economy – also points to disinflationary pressure.

> What falling inflation means for you – and where it could end 2023

Regardless of how swiftly CPI falls and whether the landing ends up being quite bumpy, it shouldn’t be long before the Bank of England base rate is above inflation.

The Bank’s monetary policy committee was widely forecast to raise rates again at midday today to 5.5 per cent, with a growing weight of opinion this may be the last rise.

Instead, the bank’s ratesetters opted to pause at 5.25 per cent, although further rises are not ruled out. 

That’s a shift from the inflation-panic forecasts in early summer when base rate was tipped to top 6 per cent.

> What the interest rate pause means for your mortgage and savings 

Rates may not spike as high now, but they will potentially stay higher for longer.

So, if the Bank sticks at 5.25 per cent into next year – or still moves up to 5.5 per cent – and CPI falls as forecast, by the end of 2023 we will be back to the point where base rate is above inflation.

That was the old normal, before the financial crisis and offbeat monetary policy arrived.

Since then, inflation has largely been above base rate, as the Bank of England kept interest rates on the floor.

This low-rate world was the ‘new normal’ that many expected to go on and on.

The recent inflation crisis that caught central bankers napping brought an abrupt end to that scenario and I suspect many ratesetters see the silver lining of this rude awakening as being a golden opportunity to get back to the old normal.

Part of the old normal also involved wages risen faster than inflation, which is something we have once again returned to.

Although current wage growth of 8.5 per cent is unsustainable long-term, employees across the UK will be hoping that as inflation moderates their pay increases remain above it.

Companies should back that idea, as it involves a return to the world of real pay rises and people getting a little bit richer each year – something good for a consumer economy.

As inflation falls, hopefully savings rates will stick above it – meaning a real return for savers.

Put your money into the top one-year fix from NS&I now at 6.2 per cent and it might be below inflation now, but you should make a real return on your cash over the next twelve months.

But savers should remain on their guard. Yesterday’s figures nudged down rate rise expectations and so will today’s rate pause – this will filter through to the best savings rates on the market.

Don’t expect too many of those 6 per cent-plus fixed rate savings accounts to stick around.

A fortnight ago, I warned of vanishing savings deals and advised readers to sign up to our Savings Alerts.

Shortly afterwards, Santander pulled its blockbuster 5.2 per cent easy access account. It only gave warning in the morning that savers had until midnight to get it.

If you were signed up to our savings alerts then you would have known and had time to act, as we emailed readers to warn them.

So, if you’re not part of the gang yet, sign up to Savings Alerts here.

This is Money podcast

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BUSINESS LIVE: Inflation edges down to 6.7%

By This Is Money

Updated: 03:12 EDT, 20 September 2023

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Rising gas prices push up the rate of annual inflation to 3.7% – the second consecutive rise THIS YEAR – but experts insist interest rates will remain steady

• Prices rose 0.6 percent month-on-month, driven mainly by a jump in gas prices
• Despite the rise, the Fed is expected to hold interest rates steady next week
• Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, remained mild  

By Tilly Armstrong Consumer Reporter For Dailymail.Com

Updated: 10:38 EDT, 13 September 2023

The cities where Australians are switching jobs more often – and the surprising places where 10 years with the same boss is typical

By Stephen Johnson, Economics Reporter For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 01:36 EDT, 13 September 2023 | Updated: 02:24 EDT, 13 September 2023

America has already set a record for ‘billion-dollar’ disasters in a given year – even with three months to go and the peak of hurricane season still remaining. 

According to NOAA, which has been tracking billion-dollar weather disasters in the US since 1980 and adjusting costs for inflation, this year’s storms have already cost more than $57.6billion and claimed at least 253 lives.

The disasters include the Maui wildfires, Hurricane Idalia in Florida and flooding in the Northeast. 

There have been 23 billion-dollar storms this year, beating the previous record of 22 in 2020, according to a report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

NOAA applied climatologist Adam Smith, who tracks the billion-dollar weather events, said Monday he does ‘not expect things to slow down anytime soon.’

‘We’re seeing the fingerprints of climate change all over our nation,’ he said. 

The organization listed an August 11 Minnesota hailstorm and severe storms in early August and mid-July across the Midwest and parts of the South among the 23 costly weather events.

The organization has not yet taken into account the damage brought on by Tropical Storm Hilary, which walloped California along the coast, as well as parts of Nevada and Washington.

Droughts in the South and Midwest have also yet to be added to the count, as costs are still being totaled.

Each of the weather events listed have cost at least $1billion in damage.  

Smith said the shockingly high number of costly weather events is both due to a rise in the number of disasters, and because more areas are being built in risk-prone locations.

‘Exposure plus vulnerability plus climate change is supercharging more of these into billion-dollar disasters,’ Smith said.

‘This year, a lot of the action has been across the center states, north central, south and southeastern states.’

He added he thought the record established in 2020 would last for many years because the 22 billion-dollar disasters that year far surpassed the previous record of 16.

After this year’s partial results, however, he no longer believes new records will hold for very long. 

Weather experts say the country needs to become more adaptable to weather events, because there are only more each year.

‘The climate has already changed and neither the built environment nor the response systems are keeping up with the change,’ Former Federal Emergency Management Agency director Craig Fugate said.

University of Arizona climate scientist Katharine Jacobs said ‘adding more energy to the atmosphere and the oceans will increase intensity and frequency of extreme events.’

‘Many of this year’s events are very unusual and in some cases unprecedented.’ 

Stanford University climate scientist Chris Field called the rise of billion-dollar disasters ‘very troubling.’

‘But there are things we can do to reverse the trend,’ he added. ‘If we want to reduce the damages from severe weather, we need to accelerate progress on both stopping climate change and building resilience.’ 

Far-left Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez faced backlash after sharing a video on Instagram that accredited rising prices solely to corporations and described the discussion surrounding inflation as ‘propaganda.’

Ocasio-Cortez’s decision to repost the video drew anger from her own constituents and people across social media. 

The video was the product of Aotearoa Liberation League, an organization that describes itself as a ‘decolonial justice project’ from New Zealand, and stated that corporations were driving inflation. 

‘The propaganda around inflation and cost of living is so powerful that we forget the very basic fact that corporations set the prices for their products.’

The democrats decision to post the video led to anger from her district  

‘Is AOC crazy?’ Latisha Law, a certified nursing assistant from the Bronx, said. ‘Has she been to a grocery store recently? $1,000 ain’t nothing no more. $100 ain’t nothing no more. Maybe she should spend some time in the projects and really help people.’ 

Inflation has caused havoc on the US economy and made it harder for people to buy everyday items. At one point, inflation reached 9.1 percent in June, though it has cooled off as the Federal Reserve has jacked mortgage rates to bring the figure down. 

As a result of the spike in prices, Americans have been paying more for goods, from food to utilities.  

After reposting the video, the politician was slammed by people who saw it as a means of shifting blame off politicians and onto corporations.

The activist in the video chalked the rising prices up to ‘a bunch of greedy shareholders.’ 

The video led to anger from some people in her district to rip the controversial congresswoman for sharing the video. Latisha Law said she was working two jobs ‘just to survive.’

‘I kill myself just to feed my family. It’s much worse now than it was before the pandemic,’ the single mother of three added.

Underlying the fury was the belief that the government – including elected representatives such as Ocasio-Cortez – should have some role in curbing inflation. 

Ocasio Cortez represents New York’s 14th Congressional District which includes parts of Queens and the southeastern Bronx. 

About 14.5 percent of people within the district live below the poverty line and only 30 percent of the population hold a bachelor’s degree. Nearly half the population is foreign-born, with the majority reporting Latin American heritage.

Reporters from the New York Post spoke to a handful of the district’s near 700,000 people, but concluded they all had similar stories.

They noted that the majority of the people did not know who the representative was and struggled to identify the Democrat.

Lattina Brown, who ran for election to the New York City Council in 2021, wrote: ‘I live in her district and we can barely afford the basic items. Rent is very high. She’s full of crap!’ 

Several users on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, urged Ocasio-Cortez’s constituents to educate themselves on the people running for election in their district.

‘It is time that the people who voted her in have realized their mistake,’ one user wrote. ‘Only their vote can change the strain on their lives. Just getting by each month will get worse if they don’t.’

Citing the article, another user wrote: ‘Most couldn’t identify her or know who she was – But they will go to the polls, see incumbent by her name, and re-elect her.’

‘And yet they keep voting for her,’ another said. ‘Don’t feel sorry for her constituents at all. They get what they voted for.’

Other people slammed the politician for being out of touch with the reality faced by her constituents.

‘In her defense, she’s in the political class now, inflation has zero effect on her and her comrades, so technically she’s telling A truth, just not THE truth,’ one user said.

Ocasio-Cortez drew similar ire when she attended the 2021 Met Gala wearing a floor-length white gown stamped with the words ‘TAX THE RICH.’ 

She was slammed for being a hypocrite in attending an event where tickets cost $35,000.

‘AOC wearing a Tax The Rich gown to an event where the admission is 30k a person sums up all that’s wrong with our country,’ one user commented on X.

‘If she cared about taxing the rich she would have protested the Met Gala, instead she joined the party,’ another wrote. 

The young politician subsequently faced an investigation after a review found ‘substantial reason to believe that she accepted impermissible gifts.’

The review found that she was given a dress, shoes and accessories as well as hair and makeup services, transportation, and a hotel room in connection with the event.

Ocasio-Cortez did not pay for the items until after she was contacted by the Office of Congressional Ethics.

The OCE transmitted a referral to the Committee on Ethics of the United States House of Representatives on June 23, 2022. 

The 33-year-old ‘may have violated House rules, standards of conduct, and federal law’ in accepting the gifts, according to the referral.

More than 3.5 million people lost their ‘dollar millionaire’ status in 2022 during the first fall in global wealth since the 2008 financial crisis, a study has found.

The number of adults with assets totalling more than $1m (£790,000) dropped from 62.9 million at the end of 2021 to 59.4 million at the end of last year, according to the Global Wealth Report launched by Credit Suisse and UBS.

The number of millionaires in the US fell by 1.8 million to 22.7 million, but there are still far more than in any other nation, while in the UK the number dropped by 440,000 to 2.6 million, the third largest globally.

The world’s privately held wealth fell 2.4 per cent to $454.4 trillion at the end of last year, as $11.3 trillion was stripped from the value of personal assets by high inflation and weaker currencies.

The invasion of Ukraine for was blamed for causing the lift in inflation in 2022.

According to separate research for the Bloomberg billionaires index, the richest 500 people in the world lost a total of $1.4 trillion in 2022.

The report from Credit Suisse and UBS shows that, measured in current nominal USD, wealth per adult also declined by $3,198 to reach $84,718 per adult. 

Much of this decline comes from the appreciation of the US dollar against many other currencies. 

Financial assets contributed most to wealth declines in 2022, while non-financial assets (mostly real estate) stayed resilient, despite rapidly rising interest rates.

Regionally, the report shows the loss of global wealth was heavily concentrated in wealthier regions such as North America and Europe, which together shed $10.9 trillion.

Asia Pacific recorded losses of $2.1 trillion.

Latin America experienced a total wealth increase of $2.4 trillion, helped by an average 6 per cent currency appreciation against the US dollar.

In terms of losses in market terms in 2022, the United States headed the list, followed by Japan, China, Canada and Australia.

The largest wealth increases at the other end were recorded for Russia, Mexico, India and Brazil.

In terms of wealth per adult, Switzerland has stayed at the top of the list followed by the USA, Hong Kong SAR, Australia and Denmark despite sizeable reductions in mean wealth versus 2021.

Along with the decline in aggregate wealth, overall wealth inequality also fell in 2022, with the wealth share of the global top 1 per cent falling to 44.5 per cent.

Global wealth will increase by 38 per cent to $629 trillion by 2027, according to the report’s projections. 

Growth by middle-income markets will be the primary driver of global trends.

The number of millionaires will rise to 86 million by 2027, according to the estimates. 

Nannette Hechler-Fayd’herbe, Chief Investment Officer for the EMEA region and Global Head of Economics & Research at Credit Suisse, said: ‘Wealth evolution proved resilient during the COVID-19 era and grew at a record pace during 2021. But inflation, rising interest rates and currency depreciation caused a reversal in 2022.’

Anthony Shorrocks, economist and report author, said: ‘Much of the decline in wealth in 2022 was driven by high inflation and the appreciation of the US dollar against many other currencies. If exchange rates were held constant at 2021 rates, then total wealth would have increased by 3.4% and wealth per adult by 2.2% during 2022. 

‘This is still the slowest increase of wealth at constant exchange rates since 2008. Keeping exchange rates constant but counting the effects of inflation results in a real wealth loss of –2.6% in 2022. 

‘Similarly, financial assets contributed most to wealth declines while non-financial assets (mostly real estate) stayed resilient, despite rapidly rising interest rates. But the relative contributions of financial and non-financial assets may reverse in 2023 if house prices decline in response to higher interest rates.’