(November 17) – Some top Federal Reserve officials think the central bank soon may need to reconsider its policy bent toward higher interest rates, according to documents released Thursday,” writes Jacob Schlesinger in today’s Wall Street Journal.

“On Wednesday, the Fed disappointed financial markets by declaring after a policy meeting that it still considered inflation to be a greater danger to the economy than recession, a statement that suggests the Fed is more likely to raise rates than cut them in the foreseeable future.

“Some investors had hoped that, with mounting signs of economic softness, the Fed would drop that position. While that didn’t happen Wednesday, a summary of the Fed’s Oct. 3 meeting shows that officials were weighing such a move as long as six weeks ago.

“All the members agreed that their views regarding the outlook for inflation were consistent with a statement ‘indicating that the risks remained toward higher inflation over time,’ the summary said. But, it added, ‘some expressed the opinion that those risks were now decidedly less tilted to the upside, and that a reconsideration” of the bias “might be warranted over the next several months.’

“At the October meeting, officials voted 10-0 to keep rates on hold. The Fed also kept rates steady at this week’s meeting; the details of the vote won’t be released until December.