Target and Effective Federal Funds Rate?

Question

Do you think the Fed has been able to maintain its target? And why do you think there's a big difference between target and effective federal funds rate can occur?

Answer 1

During periods  when the the target rate is unchanging the  actual rate is very close to the target rate. However   over the last year  when the financial markets were in turmoil they missed it by a lot. Many people speculated that the misses were deliberate because the felt the need to lower rates but did not want  to make things worse by announcing emergency between meeting changes in the target