The Fed is the central bank. Its primary purpose has always been to be the lender of last resort and provide liquidity to the banking system. Of course they tra

The Fed is the central bank. Its primary purpose has always been to be the lender of last resort and provide liquidity to the banking system. Of course they track the health of the banking system. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lender_of_last_resort https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lender_of_last_resort It's often stated that their two goals are to maximize unemployment and minimize inflation, but those are ultimately secondary to maintaining the overall health of the banking system and financial sector (although it's generally thought that aiming for those two goals help achieve that stability).