Small differences, especially if sustained over time, could well have a substantial effect on voting patterns. In practice, policy decisions are likely to depend on more than the modal forecast used by the authors, such as the degree of uncertainty, the risks around the central tendency, and a weighting of the costs to public welfare from missing the forecast on one side or another.
In the announcement following the January 31 meeting, the Federal Reserve pointed to risks that could add to inflation pressures. Among those risks is the possibility that, to an extent greater than we now anticipate, higher energy prices may pass through into the prices of non-energy goods and services or have a persistent effect on inflation expectations.