US Federal Reserve officials were jolted last week by the cacophony of booing that greeted their quarter-percentage-point interest rate cut. Markets badly wanted double the amount. It is part of a growing town/gown rift between a model-oriented Fed and a profit-oriented financial community.

Market commentators, including some former Federal Open Market Committee members, almost unan­imously expressed deep disappointment that the Fed did not seem more attuned to the growing risk of recession. The critics were especially peeved that the Fed’s statement did not contain a clear acknowledgement that short-term growth risks easily trump short-term risks to core inflation.