The Federal Reserve is very close to achieving its policy goals. In June, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard gave a presentation outlining just how close the Fed was to its stated goals. In that presentation, Bullard argued that not only was the Fed close its current goals, but that the central bank is closer to its policy goals than it has been about 75% of the time since 1960. And last week, lost in Rick Santelli's on-air meltdown, CNBC economics reporter Steve Liesman made the point that the Fed's policy is to be behind the curve, particularly as it relates to inflation and interest rates. Inflation data ... (full story)