Missing a wingbeat
JEFFREY LACKER has held a vote on the rate-setting committee of America's Federal Reserve for less than a year. But on August 8th he did something no committee member has done since June 2003: he voted against the chairman, Ben Bernanke. Mr Lacker, head of the Richmond Fed, thought his fellow central bankers should raise interest rates for the 18th time in a row. Instead, they decided to pause in their long migration back to a temperate monetary policy, holding the federal funds rate at 5.25%.
This split decision was accompanied by a statement that might most charitably be described as “deliberative”. The Fed admitted core inflation was high (2.4% in the year to June, according to its preferred measure); it probably won't remain so, but if it does the Fed will start tightening again, falling in behind the man from Richmond.
