(Washington)

Several weeks ago the Fed slammed the brakes on more rates rises. The market has taken a deep sigh of relief to the tune of major gains in stock indexes. But within the pause is a more sophisticated, and perhaps more consequential, rethink of the Fed’s goals. The Fed is puzzled by weakness in inflation. With the labor market so tight, inflation should be rising strongly. Yet it has failed to reach the Fed’s two percent goal and appears to be weakening again. Accordingly, there are discussions going on internally at the Fed, about the disconnect and how to approach it.

FINSUM: There is a major question here—will the Fed revise its target higher and take a more aggressive approach to boosting the economy, or will it leave the target at 2% and be content. In either scenario, rates look unlikely to rise soon.