The process of higher wages leading to higher prices leading to higher wages and so on is called the ‘wage–price spiral’ and some governments have used prices and incomes policies in an attempt to break this cycle. During the 1970s, a variety of prices and incomes policies were used in the UK, ranging from statutory to voluntary. An example of a statutory incomes policy was the wages freeze introduced by the Conservative government in 1972. The main problem with this approach is that although it may be effective while in place, as soon as conditions are relaxed there tends to be a ‘catching-up’ period when wages rise very quickly and the whole process is set in motion once more