Brian Chappatta, Columnist

The Fed Has More Options Than 0% Rates or Recession

It’s a scary situation if there’s no middle ground on policy for the world’s most powerful central bank.

November 17, 2021 at 10:00 AM UTC

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.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell has some options. — Fed Chair Jerome Powell has some options.
Photographer: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

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After last week’s red-hot U.S. consumer price index reading of 6.2%, debate around what the Federal Reserve should do about inflation has reached a fever pitch. There are two prevailing schools of thought:

Some of those who side with view No. 1 argue that taking path No. 2 would choke off the swift economic recovery and leave millions of Americans unemployed. This, in effect, assumes the world’s most powerful central bank has a binary decision between sitting on its hands or throwing the U.S. into a downturn.