The Reserve Bank seems to think, to use the phrase of the moment, that it just fell out of a coconut tree. It’s acting like its hopes of a “narrow path” to a soft landing do not exist in a context. But they do. And that context is a long-run, abject failure to deliver on its inflation target.

It talks about inflation being “persistent” but still has real interest rates close to zero. Governor Michele Bullock talked tough at her post-announcement press conference on Tuesday, but the reality is the board hasn’t had the stomach to raise rates since last November.