Out of his hands

The Federal Reserve Board kept the overnight interest rate at 5.25% on Tuesday, for the fourth meeting in a row. The US central bank is torn between inflation worries and recession fears. But Ben Bernanke, the Fed chairman, should relax. Its decisions aren’t likely to matter all that much. The debate on the economy’s direction is finely balanced. The bears, such as BNP Paribas, can point to statistics such as the 49% decline in the annualised rate of housing starts in the last three months. Or ...