This unfortunate situation the Fed is in — damned if you do, and damned if you don't — is illustrative of a deeper issue. Many politicians, companies and households risk thinking of the Fed as part of the problem and not part of the solution. And it is the latter, currently at 6.3%, that measures the breadth and likely persistence of inflation. But it was not until the end of November of last year that the Fed stopped assuring us, repeatedly, that inflation was "transitory." Just a few months ago, it was still pumping liquidity into the economy while inflation was rising fast.

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