An article in the Economist discussed the situation facing the U.S. economy in mid-2015: "The combination of weaker-than-expected CPI inflation and some dovish comments in the minutes of the Federal Reserve's July meeting have caused the dollar ... to fall. Inflation continues to languish close to zero due to cheap oil and the effect of a strengthening dollar." By "dovish comments," the article meant that some members of the Fed's Federal Open Market Committee did not believe that the target for the federal funds rate should be raised in the coming months.
a. If investors come to believe that the Fed might not be increasing interest rates, why would the value of the dollar decline?
b. What does "the strengthening of the dollar" mean? Why would a strengthening of the dollar reduce the inflation rate in the United States?