I think that the Fed has significantly extended its scope over time. From a pure backstop for banks towards quantitative easing and even buying of corporate bon

I think that the Fed has significantly extended its scope over time. From a pure backstop for banks towards quantitative easing and even buying of corporate bonds. And that's true for the EZB and other central banks as well. Overall, central banks do indeed seem to have a dampening effect on the economy, preventing some of the more extreme swings of the pre-Fed era, but I would argue that the Feds sustained injection of cash into the markets over the last decade has created a lot of the inflation the Fed is now trying to solve