NPR.

As expected, today Fed Chair Jerome Powell announced a quarter of a percentage point rise in

interest rates.

And in the front row was Gina Smilak.

She's a reporter for The New York Times.

Gina Smilak, New York Times, thanks for taking our questions.

Gina asked about how the Fed now viewed the possibilities of a recession.

And Jerome Powell replied, the forecast was for a mild recession.

Of course, a big driver for this is the Fed raising interest rates.

That raises the question, what's the history that led to the Fed amassing so much power

over the economy?

This is the indicator from Planet Money, I'm Darian Woods.

And here with me now is Gina Smilak.

Welcome to the show Gina.

Thank you for having me.

You've recently released a book titled Limitless, The Federal Reserve Takes On A New Age

of Crisis.

And the key thesis of this book is that for better or for worse, the Fed has amassed

a huge amount of power over the economy.

That is correct.

And there's this key moment at the peak of the early pandemic chaos, where this becomes

really clear.

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