Next week, officials at the U.S. Federal Reserve will hold a crucial meeting on whether to raise interest rates. Whatever they do, it will probably be a mistake. More than seven years after the recovery began in mid-2009, inflation remains below the central bank's 2-percent target, indicating that the economy is still operating below potential. As of July, consumer prices were up just 0.8 percent from a year earlier. Excluding volatile food and energy goods and services, they were up 1.6 percent. Worse, markets appear to be losing confidence that the Fed will ever reach its target: Yields on Treasury bonds suggest ... (full story)