Fed Policymakers Look to Juggle Inflation, Stagnation

The U.S. Federal Reserve faces a tough challenge as it kicks off a two-day policymaking meeting tomorrow (Tuesday): It probably needs to start raising interest rates to prop up the U.S. dollar and offset a major escalation in inflationary pressures; but the economy needs low interest rates if it’s to maintain its anemic growth rate. After one of the Fed’s most aggressive rate-cutting campaigns ever slashed short-term interest rates from 5.25% in mid-September to 2.0% now, experts now expect the central bank to reverse course. And this week’s two-day meeting of the policymaking Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) represents the first…