Is the Fed about to wave the white flag on inflation? The central bank looks on track next week to lower interest rates even as the pace of price increases is running, on an annual basis, some 25 percent above the Fed’s own 2 percent target. That’s per the August reading of the Consumer Price Index, which rose 2.5 percent, while core prices jumped 3.2 percent, over last year. It’s hard, by our lights, to see why the Fed is in such an all-fired rush.