The British measurement of inflation has long been chaotic and, in part, backward. After the latest review, it is shambolic.

The chaotic bit was the use of two main measures. The Consumer Price Index meets European and modern statistical standards, but does not include housing expense. That omission makes it unfit for one of its main applications, guiding the Bank of England’s monetary policy. The unfit aspect was the calculation of the Retail Price Index (RPI), a measure which does include mortgage payments. It uses a mathematically flawed technique for aggregating prices, one which has been abandoned almost everywhere.