BSkyB investors sample the bitter taste of a Murdoch discount again The market's reaction reveals a nervousness over hacking and the obvious Murdoch link to the goings on at News International. It's the latest instance of a Murdoch discount - which has long dogged the News Corporation share price - hitting the value of BSkyB shares. The question in investors" minds will be how long will this cloud hang over the pay-TV company? Perhaps the shares will rally next week and make up the lost ground. Or perhaps it will be a longer pall. Of course if the share price does start to be affected by hacking and a Murdoch discount, the independent shareholders may be more willing to surrender to a renewed bid from the Murdoch's News Corporation. Certainly such a move is the only reason I can see for James Murdoch to still be on the board of BSkyB. James's presence will help steer through his father's long-term aim of buying BSkyB outright. Ultimately, however, that is in the hands of Ofcom and its "fit and proper" investigation of BSkyB. As this column wrote on Wednesday, the board needs a rather more serious shake-out to establish the independence befitting a FTSE 100 company, including the departure of Murdoch jnr. The upcoming Commons report and appearance before the Leveson inquiry could see to that. But either way, the longer BSkyB's board meetings resemble a coffee morning for Murdoch family and friends, the worse for shareholders. Savers are bearing the cost of debt refinancing Much has been made so far this year of our falling rate of inflation. But we've been reminded in recent days that it would be complacent indeed if we thought it was beaten. With CPI inflation running at nearly seven times the Bank of England's official rate of interest, those living off savings are having a terrible time, thanks to price levels. For most of us, the rate of inflation we're actually enduring is often far higher than the average 3.4pc that CPI reflects. Previous bouts of inflation have already done their damage but evidence is growing that the Bank's assumption that prices are set to fall, and fall comprehensively, could be seriously challenged. If you assume the UK will continue to recover in 2012, then inflationary pressures are more likely to build than not. Input prices for business surged in March, with average purchase prices rising at the quickest pace since last August. The pick-up in cost pressures since the start of the year is among the steepest in the past 20 years. Manufacturers this week reported higher prices for electronic components, metals, oil, plastics and transportation. And then there's what we eat. Food inflation rose 5.4pc in March, up from 4.2pc in February. Water shortages won't just hurt the back garden. Harvests could be hit, too. Energy and fuel prices are rising and big retailers are finding it increasingly difficult to keep discounting year after year. The only people inflation helps are debtors, the biggest of which is the Coalition. As long as politicians are content to see the Bank printing money and using it to buy Government debt to artificially manipulate the price of gilts downwards - and cut George Osborne's cost of borrowing - we should not expect a change of policy. Inflation targeting by the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee is little more than a fig leaf to cover the rude bits of realpolitik UK-style. Savers are in effect paying the costs of refinancing the Government's debt. It's a pile of liabilities built up over the past 15 years to pay for jobs and services we can't afford. You may not have voted Labour in 1997 or thereafter, but you're certainly paying for it now.