The Federal Reserve only has a couple of tools at their disposal. They can: adjust the Fed Funds rate: which is used as a target interest rate for many savings

The Federal Reserve only has a couple of tools at their disposal. They can: adjust the Fed Funds rate: which is used as a target interest rate for many savings / lending instruments Bank reserve rates: How much cash banks have to hold - that they can't lend. Buy Bonds / Securities In a more "normal" economy, adjusting interest rates has the biggest impact. Though, during the last financial crisis, you saw the direct buying of securities. However, historically, the fed often buys / sells bonds. Reserve ratio adjustments is the other common tool, though I'm not sure how frequently that's used.