Caleb Silver is Editor in Chief of Investopedia *Follow him on Twitter: @calebsilver. By its own admission, the central bank underestimated the breadth and persistence of high inflation after the pandemic struck. As a result, the Federal Reserve launched a high-risk effort Wednesday to tame the worst inflation since the early 1980s, raising its benchmark short-term interest rate and indicating there could be up to six more rate hikes this year.