Following news that Godwin Grech has been in hospital since his committee appearance, there has been some soul-searching about putting manifestly wrong people in front of the camera.

Tony Jones might have felt that way on Friday’s Lateline, while having a chat with Stephen Long, horn-rimmed economics correspondent who, in the middle of a discussion about global indicators, started rabbiting on about the ‘Latvian hooker’ index — the fall in prices, he explained at faltering length, paid for such services as a register of deflation. A teeth-grindingly embarrassing exchange ensued, before Long signed off by saying that he wouldn’t be checking the index personally. “Of course not” replied Jones dryly.

It seemed less a tribute to Long’s propriety than an intimation that there are some things — or people — even Latvian hookers won’t do.