> I mean how else the current 2.00-2.25% rate is forced onto the financial system?
Traditionally, Fed used open market operations to target the fed funds rate. This entailed either buying/selling treasuries or conducting repo operations (as was done here). This was a corridor system, as banks could earn no less than 0% interest keeping reserves on the Fed's balance sheet (no negative interest) and could finance at a cost no higher than the discount rate in which banks borrowed directly from the Fed's discount window (this, however, sent a very negative signal to the market).
For the past decade, the Fed has relied on interest on excess reserves (IOER) to target the fed funds rate, a policy known as a floor system. Here, banks earn a given interest rate on reserves kept on the fed's balance sheet. The floor system theoretically ensures short term rates do not drop below the IOER rate (although it is not always the case). This does not entail engaging in open market operations.
> Why else would anyone even care about what the FED rate is?
All dollar interest rates are impacted in one way or another by the fed funds rate. The strength of the dollar is also impacted by the fed funds rate, as it may become more or less attractive to keep balances in the US. The floor system currently employed makes it less attractive for banks to use excess reserves to make loans, as the risk free rate (on the fed balance sheet) is greater. This diminishes the money multiplier effect that banks have.
Additionally, some foreign institutions are able to keep money on the fed's balance sheet, helping them avoid negative interest rates. Again, this disincentivizes them from making loans and also undermines monetary policy implemented by their local central banks. Finally, some currencies have a USD peg (e.g. HKD). These pegs effectively import Federal Reserve monetary policy (to help mitigate the risk of currency crises) which affects the local economies.
This is a long read, but it's worth it. The metric can be calculated in FRED[2], and as a predictor of future returns, it outperforms all of the most common stock market valuation metrics, including cyclically-adjusted price-earnings (CAPE) ratio[3]. (Basically, the average investor portfolio allocation to equities versus bonds and cash is inversely correlated with future returns over the long-term. This works better than pure valuation models because it accounts for supply and demand dynamics.)
