Markets were doubly rattled in late November, first by the emergence of the apparently more transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19, and second by a suggestion from Fed Chair Jay Powell that the taper may need to proceed more rapidly than had been assumed, perhaps opening the door to an increase in the US policy rate as early as March. We know very little that is concrete, at this stage, about the ability of Omicron to evade immunity, or to cause…