Latest Fed discussion reflects more confidence in raising rates

Washington

WHEN Federal Reserve officials convened just before the US presidential election, they talked like people who were ready to raise interest rates although they decided to wait a little longer.

They fretted about the growing risks of keeping borrowing costs at a historically low level, according to an account of the meeting that the Fed published on Wednesday. They also expressed confidence, albeit with some reservations, that the economy was ready for higher rates.

The exuberant reaction of financial markets to Donald Trump's victory has strengthened the case for higher rates and solidified expectations that the Fed will act at its next meeting, in December.

The early November meeting was something of a placeholder; the Fed was seen as unlikely to move on the eve of the election. Officials had decided they were not quite ready to raise rates at their previous meeting, in September, and the account noted that they did not have…