In particular, I argue that, although reliable macroeconomic statistics are of course necessary for policy making, even good statistics are sometimes grossly insufficient to guide economic policy, especially when a seismic change occurs in the market and the economy. The recent financial crisis is an example of such change.
The Reserve Bank has since announced a review of card payments regulation and released an Issues Paper in early March. Among other things, it contemplates the potential for changes to the regulation of card surcharges and interchange fees. Surcharging tends to be a “hot button” issue with consumers and generated a large number of (largely identical) submissions to the Financial System Inquiry.