Brian Chappatta, Columnist

Fed Needs Better Answers on Runaway Markets and Inequality

The central bank’s urgency to backstop liquidity and functionality runs the risk of leaving poorer Americans and minorities behind.

June 9, 2020 at 11:00 AM UTC

By Brian Chappatta

Brian Chappatta is managing editor of Bloomberg News' leveraged finance and distressed debt teams. He was previously managing editor and team leader of its wealth group. Before that he was a Bloomberg Opinion markets and finance columnist and a bonds reporter for Bloomberg News.

Just listening isn’t enough.
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

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Federal Reserve officials don’t like to talk about asset inflation.

This is hardly surprising. The levels of stocks and corporate bonds, after all, aren’t part of their stated dual mandate of maximum employment and stable prices. Moreover, the central bank has tried desperately to come off as not just catering to Wall Street interests since the 2008 financial crisis. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has emphasized the importance of its “Fed Listens” forums, for one. Just last week, the New York Fed detailed a new event series called “The Fed and Main Street,” which aims “to discuss the challenges faced by vulnerable communities and highlight opportunities to work together toward an equitable economic recovery.”