Question: Please answer the three questions:

(1) why, after pushing interest rates down for several years, is the Fed now focusing on raising them?

(2) After indicating in December that further increases in the federal funds rate are likely in 2017, why has the Fed decided not to raise interest rates at two of its last three meetings?

(3) Based on your assessment of how weakly or strongly the U.S. economy is likely to perform the rest of the year, do you feel the Fed should maintain the range for the federal funds rate at its current ¾ - 1 percent level or begin to raise it further? If the latter, by how much? How soon?