The Price of Everything

The premise

Rosa’s budget decisions are told alongside one household on her estate, the Harlows, who live with every consequence. Inflation, wages, rents and council services become visible at both ends of the same street, and Rosa has to vote on cuts she can see from her own window.

The protagonist

Rosa Fenwick — Town councillor who chairs the budget committee during a cost-of-living crisis

The council

Every council member is an original fictional character. None represents, quotes or is endorsed by a real person.

Dr Anselm Kirby

macroeconomist

Patient explainer focused on monetary causes; can seem remote from the street

Nadira Holm

labour economist

Blunt about who bears costs; distrusts averages

Callum Rees-Ottley

council finance officer

Cautious; knows every statutory duty and quotes them

Martha Ileoje

food-bank coordinator

Practical; keeps the human cost in every discussion

How the story moves

Chapters alternate between the committee room and the Harlows’ kitchen; each budget decision lands on the family in the following book, and Rosa’s final vote costs her politically.

What readers take away

Explain how inflation is measured and why personal inflation differs
Understand how interest rates affect mortgages and savings
Explain real wages and bargaining power
Read a local-authority budget and its statutory duties
Understand council tax and council tax support
Compare household strategies for rising prices
Find energy, food and housing support
Evaluate economic claims made by politicians
Distinguish CPI, CPIH and RPI
Calculate a real-terms pay change from nominal figures
Explain why averages hide unequal impacts
Read a council’s published budget summary

The books

1The index Planned
2The rent rise Planned
3The budget gap Planned
4The vote Planned

Book titles are working titles and may change before publication. No book is on sale until the complete series is finished, checked and released.