Not sure what all the fuss is about. I can’t say I consider a range of 1.14% to 2.63% more than marginally inflationary?
Seems like a whole lot of nuthin’ to me.
I have moved from a deflationist position to a “very mild” deflationist position. I don’t think the Fed can effectively stave off deflation in its entirety – for reasons Arraya and CA mentioned, but I think they avoid major deflationary crashes and kick the can for years.
As such, I see An unstoppable force fighting an immovable object. This leads to a long period of low or negative growth, very mild deflation, high unemployment with the Fed fighting deflation the whole way and almost winning.
I found these numbers interesting – posted on the same day that socratt short-term spike in commodities prices.