In the past nine months, Jerome Powell has raised interest rates at the fastest pace of any Federal Reserve chair since the 1980s, triggering a market rout, bringing the housing market to a standstill and prompting fears of an imminent recession. That was the easy part.
When inflation was hitting 40-year highs, Fed officials were unanimous that rates needed to rise aggressively. Now cracks are beginning to emerge among them over how stubborn inflation has become and what they should do about it.