The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), part of the Federal Reserve, is responsible for determining the appropriate stance of monetary policy. The committee meets eight times per year. One of those meetings occurred last week. 

During these meetings, the FOMC sets the federal funds rate range — the target rate at which commercial banks borrow and lend their excess reserves to each other overnight. This rate then sets the tone for other borrowing rates throughout the country. 

In 2020, the Fed lowered rates to near zero due to the slowing economy as a result of the COVID pandemic. 

Inflation quickly become a concern as consumers returned to buy too few produced goods over a short amount of time. In an effort to tame inflation,...