"Fed's mouthpiece": Powell defended the Fed's policies

On October 15, Jin10 reported that "Fed mouthpiece" Nick Timiraos stated that Fed Chairman Powell's remarks on the balance sheet did a few things: 1) In light of recent signs of strengthening in overnight borrowing rates, these remarks provided a market-based assessment of the current quantitative tightening outlook; 2) It refuted recent criticisms (such as those from U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen and others) that the support measures during the pandemic – implemented with broad support in Congress and from the Trump administration early on – were absurd policy interventions. Powell acknowledged (as he had before) that stopping quantitative easing more quickly would seem wiser, but given how rapidly and sharply the Fed changed course in 2022, this move had no substantial impact on the macroeconomy. 3) It also defended the efforts of bipartisan populist senators attempting to strip the Fed of its ability to pay interest on excess reserves (IOR), warning that rescinding this policy tool could cause greater disruption to the markets.