A conversation with Jeanna Smialek, author of Limitless, on how a succession of crises expanded the central bank’s powers in ways the public has yet to understand.
Allison Schrager: Your new book, Limitless: The Federal Reserve Takes on a New Age of Crisis, is a modern history of the Fed that focuses on the extraordinary expansion of the central bank’s role over the last few decades and the impact it’s had on the US economy. I want to jump in with the quote that closes your book, from the former Fed chair Marriner Eccles: “The Fed’s actions are seldom popular. If it is to succeed in its mission, it will need great internal strength in its composition, great courage in its action, and a sustained…understanding of the role it should play in our society and democratic capitalism.” Do you think the Fed still does things that are unpopular?
Continue reading the entire piece here at Bloomberg Opinion (paywall)
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Allison Schrager is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of City Journal.
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