{"id":61520,"date":"2022-01-17T09:07:15","date_gmt":"2022-01-17T14:07:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=61520"},"modified":"2022-01-17T09:07:15","modified_gmt":"2022-01-17T14:07:15","slug":"fed-chair-faces-the-ultimate-lose-lose-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=61520","title":{"rendered":"Fed Chair Faces the Ultimate Lose-Lose Decision"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Fed Chair Faces the Ultimate Lose-Lose Decision<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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\"Fed<\/p>\n
Photo by\u00a0Vadim Sadovski<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The U.S. economy teeters between two catastrophes: wild and untamed hyperinflation that turns cash into wallpaper, or an epic crash that would make 2008 look like a day at the beach. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has led the U.S. government\u2019s monetary policy to this point.<\/p>\n

Now he\u2019s attempting a nearly impossible feat\u2026<\/p>\n

He will need to thread the needle\u00a0between<\/em>\u00a0the two economic disasters, between the frying pan and the fire, to return the U.S. economy to any form of sustainable prosperity.<\/p>\n

Is that kind of miracle even possible?<\/p>\n

The frying pan: 40-year-record-high inflation<\/strong><\/p>\n

We will start with the obvious issue:\u00a0December\u2019s inflation report of 7%<\/a>\u00a0year-over-year price increases<\/strong>. That\u2019s at the end\u00a0an entire year<\/em>\u00a0where inflation rose steadily for eleven of twelve months. August, the exception, saw a 0.1% decline.<\/p>\n