The FOMC went with an ultra-dovish "clean relent" in September, and shifted the reaction function to include international financial markets in what was presumably an effort to avoid sparking an EM meltdown. Confusion reigned. Then, in October, they decided that was probably a communication error and so they switched gears and leaned hawkish in the statement. What's now become clear is that this is all ad hoc. There's no consistency to the message, there's no continuity, and these decisions are being made on a meeting-to-meeting basis based on who knows what. Fortunately, there's one man who, like Ben Bernanke, ... (full story)