Fearless Fear Gauge?

Headed into the final FOMC meeting of 2023, there was a bull market in allegations of dangerous investor complacency. As is typical in such environments, the "evidence" was subdued vol. On the eve of the December Fed decision (and the release of the new SEP and dots), the VIX hit a fresh post-COVID low. The generic interpretation is that markets are fearless. The VIX is the "fear gauge," after all. I wouldn't brave a categorical repudiation of that contention. Nor would I necessarily sugge