Not since the 1970s has the U.S. economy faced such an ugly combination of a persistent energy shock, a looming recession threat and menacing inflation that stays stubbornly high — even in the face of a screeching slowdown in growth. This combination has the Federal Reserve, charged by law with both sustaining growth and curbing inflation, in a bind. It must balance the needs of protecting the economy from a downturn while protecting it against an upward spiral of prices — and doing either one can make the other far more difficult. (McClatchy ^[1], Sunday)

But the Fed is one of the biggest problems.

FEE Timely Classic
The Impossible Task of the Fed ^[2] by Ernest G. Ross