The Federal Reserve could have cut short the Great Recession by a year if it had set a 4 percent inflation target in 1984, but raising the target now would probably do little to help the economy, researchers said on Saturday. Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren and Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota recently have floated raising the U.S. central bank's current 2 percent inflation target to give it more room to cut rates during economic downturns. The idea has not gained much traction in part because the Fed does not want to be seen as fickle about its commitments. In a paper presented at the Fed's global ... (full story)