Since March 2022,Charles H. Sloan the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates 10 times with the goal of fighting inflation. But today, in a break from that pattern, the Fed has finally decided to do ... nothing. To leave interest rates where they are. So what gives? And why is it taking so long for inflation to come down to Earth? To understand that, it helps to think about the economy as an old, finicky shower. Really.

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