'Markets Be Damned!': Fed Standing Firm On Inflation Fears By Heather SCOTT on March 14 2021 2:48 PM Skittish investors have see-sawed between celebration about the expected US economic recovery and nail-biting over a possible price spiral, but the Federal Reserve is standing firm on keeping interest rates low. In the balance between allowing faster growth -- and rising prices -- in order to restore some of the more than nine million jobs still missing due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Fed Chair Jerome Powell's message has been clear: he wants to see more people back to work. Analysts are expecting the Fed's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to maintain its very "dovish" stance when it holds its two-day policy meeting next week.