Why the Fed could lose $1.5 trillion

The Indicator from Planet Money

NPR

Business

4.7 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 31 July 2025

⏱️ 9 minutes

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Summary

The Fed is on the hook for an estimated one-and-a-half trillion dollars. Despite the recent headlines, that's not because of building renovations. It's a much larger cost blowout caused by big actions taken during the pandemic to help the economy: quantitative easing.

Today on the show, we talk to both a critic of these actions and someone who helped put those those actions in play.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	NPR.
0:02.2	You might have seen the video last week of Donald Trump and the chair of the Federal
0:18.0	Reserve, Jerome Powell, sauntering around a building site. Thank you very much. We're looking at the construction. They're of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, sauntering around a building site.
0:21.5	They're touring the Federal Reserve buildings
0:25.4	made renovation.
0:27.0	These buildings have been a target by Republicans
0:28.9	trying to oust Jerome Powell,
0:31.0	which explains some of the awkward moments.
0:33.5	So the 2.7 is now 3.1.
0:36.6	I'm not aware of that.
0:37.8	Trump hands Powell, a piece of paper,
0:39.5	explaining why he thinks the Fed renovation costs ballooned to $3.1 billion.
0:44.9	You just added in a third building is what that is.
0:47.5	That's a third building.
0:48.4	It's a building that's being built.
0:50.8	No, it was built five years ago.
0:52.8	We finished Martin five years.
0:54.1	Now, it is no secret that this whole commotion is simply politics.
0:58.5	The president or Congress cannot fire the Fed chair because they disagree that the central
1:02.8	bank's interest rates are too high.
1:04.7	Just yesterday, Jerome Powell announced interest rates were made above 4% to keep inflation
1:08.7	under control.
	...

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