The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday, Sept. 14, edition that the U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut rates on Sept. 17, joining the major banks of all the G7 economies -- with the exception of Japan -- in starting its rate-cutting cycle. The Globe's guest columnist John Rapley writes that as revealed in recent inflation reports, most notably the one that came out on Wednesday in the U.S., inflation is slowing but is not yet licked -- if by licked, we mean that central banks have hit their 2-per-cent target. Headline inflation has come down everywhere, but core inflation -- the underlying trend in prices after one strips out the most volatile items such as food and energy -- is generally staying closer to 3 per cent than 2 per cent. Despite the slowing job market in Canada, unemployment remains fairly low and real wages are rising in other Western countries. In most developed economies, productivity growth has been persistently low, so companies may try to increase prices, which could lead to higher inflation. Unless central banks decide to increase their inflation targets, which they currently do not seem inclined to do, interest rate cuts are likely to be slower and less significant than expected.