RECENTLY the Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe, pictured, stated that "the blunt instrument of interest rate increases was the only tool he could access to reduce inflation" ('Governor 'sorry' for his call on rates', Newcastle Herald 29/11). The presumption that other tools or powers may be better suited could, and indeed should, make the powers that be consider changing some long-held assumptions and conventions in dealing with inflation.
My busy brain looked at the consumer price index and the so-called basket of goods. Assumptions many have had as to what the magic basket contains may either enlighten or shock the well informed.
