Inside the Fed, it's steady-as-she-goes. Investors see thisweek's meeting as an easy call, with officials set to vote forleaving their policy rate unchanged for now.

Outside, the conversation is quite different. Formerpolicymakers and veteran Fed watchers are increasingly preoccupiedwith what the central bank will be able to do, and the tools itwill need, when the next downturn arrives.

The debate keeps throwing up bold new ideas—from direct cashinjections to a digital dollar to explicit coordination betweencentral bankers and the politicians who control budgets, an ideafloated by JPMorganChase & Co. chief Jamie Dimon in Davos last week. And the Fedis, in fact, halfway through a review of tools and communications,a discussion that may feature prominently at the meeting tomorrowand Wednesday.