Rum replaces champagne in British inflation measure
The British inflation basket of good has taken out champagne in bars – likely a sign of austere times.
The always amusing and often telling British inflation basket has been revamped again, this time replacing champagne sold in bars with less expensive rum.
The inflation measurement tool kept store-bought champagne and also added ebooks like Amazon's Kindle.
The Office for National Statistics bases its monthly calculation of inflation on 700 goods and services, reported TVNZ.
Those goods are priced in about 150 places around the country.
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The list has come to reflect the tastes of British consumers, with champagne in bars falling out of favor, likely due to the financial crisis.
Hot chocolate, blueberries, packaged stir-fry vegetables, hot chocolate and spreadable butter were also on the list.
As this is Britain, hot sandwiches in pubs are also on the list.
Lunchtime cake and custard, apparently once popular in Britain, is off the list, said the Financial Times.
Reuters said that soft contact lenses have been replaced by disposable ones.
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