Market Basket

Japan has changed the mix of goods used to calculate the country’s consumer price index, a guide to the cost of day-to-day living, to better reflect modern shopping practices in the country. Gone are the “mouth organs” that children learn to play in school, pressed-fish sausage, kimono socks, and canned corn beef. They are being replaced by items such as tickets to soccer matches, golf tees, and home-delivered pizza. (Reuters) ...It’ll never perfectly reflect consumer costs, though, until it includes small arms ammunition, like the U.S.’s.