That is why the Fed’s talk in mid-2013 about a gradual exit from unconventional monetary policy led to a so-called “taper tantrum” among investors, triggering a surge in global volatility and a shift in market sentiment against emerging markets. The question now is whether future changes by the FOMC in the federal funds rate (the interest rate at which banks lend each other their overnight money deposited at the Fed) will have similar, or indeed worse, effects.