The US inflation outlook was already steadily improving in recent months, but last week, right in the middle of the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting, the dam finally broke. Monthly reports on consumer and producer prices published on the mornings of Dec. 12 and Dec. 13 indicated inflation over the last six months — as measured by the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge — has likely returned to the central bank’s 2% target on an annualized basis. The surprising development led some Fed officials to make hasty revisions to their projections set to publish on the afternoon of the 13th. It also increased confidence ... (full story)