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The Reserve Bank's decision to leave interest rates unchanged is the latest in a series of fizzers.
Since progress on inflation first faltered in April, every update has been billed as a possible moment of clarity: are we seeing a blip or a blowout?
But a simple answer has eluded us again.
RBA governor Michele Bullock did take the unusual step of telling us we should not expect a rate cut in the next six months, taking us out to at least February next year.
That much we know. But not much more.
Inflation has been hovering stubbornly around four per cent for six months. There are still some signs that it is heading slowly in the right direction, but the RBA is worried about its persistence.
Will that mean another rate hike, or simply a long wait for the first rate cut?
The joyless answer: it depends.
That ambiguity will frustrate Australians who have waited three years to be rid of high inflation and high rates and who dread the prospect of a recession.
Just as anxious will be federal ministers, whose first term has been swallowed by an economic problem they did not create but whose consequences they now own.
But at least for now, we have to be content to consider multiple possible futures.
The most optimistic future: we are still on track
Amid the gloom, a case can still be made for the RBA to deliver its "plan A".
That plan is to get inflation under three per cent two years from now, without a recession or a large spike in joblessness in the meantime.
This is a slower timeframe than central banks have set in other countries. The RBA has chosen to tolerate higher inflation for longer to cushion the economic damage of interest rates. It is trying to ease the brakes rather than slam them.
That was always an ambitious plan — the reason Ms Bullock and her predecessor Philip Lowe have called it a "narrow path."
But even though the bank is now worried it might have to brake a little harder, it still believes it can stay on the path.
It has long warned the "last mile" would be slow, and it's possible that's all we're seeing.
One positive sign is that inflation in "market services" has eased – that is, prices for things like haircuts and recreation, which can give a good indication of local economic conditions because they are not warped by global events or the weather.
If that is a sign the storm clouds will soon part — and market expectations in the last few days seemed to suggest a belief this would be the case — the result would be what Ms Bullock calls "a remarkable achievement."
That is, we would be rid of inflation and ready for rate cuts, while also retaining a low unemployment rate by historical standards.
That would also bolster the government's ability to persuade voters the economy has turned a corner whenever we return to the polls.
The more pessimistic future: a hard landing
But other signs are less positive. Spending remains higher than the RBA would like, as does growth in wages and rents.
And the fact that house prices are still going up is propping up household wealth, allowing cash-strapped mortgage holders to borrow more and spend more.
All this has the RBA worried. Put simply, it still believes interest rates are working, but "less so" than it thought a few months ago.
This is what prompted Ms Bullock to make the unusual declaration that she did not think rate cuts were likely for at least six months, on current information.
She was less firm on whether rates would need to rise further, but for the third meeting in a row the RBA actively considered that option.
If the RBA does decide conditions are "too hot" and raises rates again, it will create the opposite risk: that the rate rise causes too much economic damage, pushing up unemployment and risking a recession.
That is the brutal balance of interest rates, and the reason they are called a "blunt instrument."
Perhaps most perversely, the full effect of a rate rise will only be known as much as a year in hindsight, because rate changes take a while to filter through the economy, for example to those on fixed mortgages.
That's why many economists expect a rate rise might be shortly followed by a rate cut – a manoeuvre to stamp out the last remnants of inflation and then go quickly into preservation mode.
But this is as messy as it sounds, not least for the government. Any continuation of uncertainty, especially one involving a rate hike, will make it much harder to demonstrate that a corner has been turned.
All of this is enough to make Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese continue to sweat.
But however eager politicians and the public are for answers, Ms Bullock is determined to disappoint those who expect certainty.
"I understand that this is not what people want to hear," she said on Tuesday.
But she also retained a sense of humour.
"It's really funny actually, over the last week I've heard commentators with absolute certainty that we must cut rates now. I've also heard commentators with absolute certainty that we must raise interest rates now. And I wish I had their certainty."