The following article by Chris Tribble discusses the uses of words associated with price, debt and taxes in the (Manchester) Guardian Weekly.

Money's too tight to mention

Many in the UK are having a miserable time as property prices are predicted to fall by 10% in the coming year, and taxes continue to rise. To restore a note of cheer, I've taken a look at the words that have gone with prices, debts and taxes over the past decade. Maybe I'll be able to find a silver lining.

Price and prices (7,628) are the most frequent of our three words, followed closely by tax (and taxable, taxation, taxed and taxes) at 6,924, and debt-related words at 3,833.

The most frequently reported aspect of prices has been the fact that they are subject to fixing and rises. Prices do go down, but not so often as they go up, it appears, with only 44 instances of fell, and 39 of down. The things that keep on getting more expensive are, in descending order: oil, share, house, commodity, market, fuel, property, food, energy and gas.

If everything that matters is going up in price, the problem with taxes seems to be that there are so many kinds, including: income, inheritance, corporation, capital gains, council, windfall (a tax on undeserved profits), corporate and poll (a tax on heads that proved very unpopular in Britain).

The silver lining seems to be that there are 612 mentions of tax cuts, but only 94 mentions of tax increases and rises. Despite this, tax avoidance and evasion appear to be a major focus of news reporting as we can see in the set: havens, loopholes, fraud, dodgers.

Alongside all the bad news, at least some things are tax deductible, and this paper contains many reports of tax cuts, breaks, harmonization, relief, rebates and exemptions.

Of course price rises affect us all, and taxes, like death, are unavoidable. But what happens when those who are burdened, laden and ridden by debts are no longer able to service them, and enter a debt crisis? Is there a silver lining here? After a vigorous debt relief campaignis there relief, forgiveness or cancellation? I hope so, as I hope that, as prices go up, and taxes keep on having to be paid, we don't end up having to deal with the debt collectors.