If they admit the real cause then they have no choice but to act. Powell has one real mandate: preserve the asset values and thus the power of the current ruli

If they admit the real cause then they have no choice but to act. Powell has one real mandate: preserve the asset values and thus the power of the current ruling class. He only accepted problematic inflation when it was no longer politically possible to deny it. He's now making non-committal statements regarding continued QE and fed balance sheet reduction. The fed is backed into a corner. They either pop the asset bubble and lose their jobs, or let inflation continue unchecked until their bosses(politicians) lose their jobs. They have a politically powerful generation(boomers) going into retirement. They'll do what it takes to keep them happy. Those folks are already looking at significant inflation in health care due to the mismatch between supply and demand there. Covid is only making that worse by causing early retirements and discouraging young people from going into health care.