It is very difficult to tell the public, after all, that the Fed would like to see a slightly higher inflation rate. The obvious question for most is, "why?" The follow-on question, even for many financial professionals, is, "is it worth it?"
Is it worth waiting for inflation to get back to 2 percent if the stock market meantime is scoring big gains, and if leverage is building up within the financial system?
Many Fed officials themselves would say no, and they aren't eager to preside over another asset-price bubble.
Read MoreFed holds off, markets now betting on hike in 2016
The trouble, and what the Fed's latest decision reveals, is that policymakers are actually quite concerned that the inflation rate is not just too low now, but is possibly heading lower. That is in part because the commodity cycle has collapsed, the prices of everything from oil to steel to copper to natural gas have precipitously dropped, and China's slowing growth suggests they're not coming back anytime soon.
The Fed is at great pains to explain this to the public—but is perhaps doing more harm than good by focusing on the various inputs to inflation instead of the final reading itself.
It's not an easy sell to the public, but it's ultimately a much clearer signal were the Fed simply to communicate that it will not raise interest rates until it seems clear that inflation is heading sustainably back above 2 percent.
That may be met with similar howls of protest, but the discussion and debate will at least be the most candid one.