"This is a Borzoi book published by Alfred A. Knopf."--Title page verson

Includes bibliographical references (pages 305-352) and index.

Introduction -- The Before Times -- The Months Markets Melted -- One Nation Under Banks -- The Fed's Second Act -- The Temple is Under New Management -- A Polarized Fed -- March Madness -- A Corporate House of Cards -- The Day the Fed Changed -- Racing Across Red Lines -- Culture Wars and Capital -- Love Songs to Full Employment -- A Fed Restrained -- The Creeping Crises -- A Year of Uncomfortable Questions -- Epilogue.

The marble halls of the Federal Reserve have always held secrets; for decades, the Fed did the utmost to preserve its room to maneuver, operating behind the scenes as much as possible. Yet over the first two decades of the twenty-first century, this elite world of bankers and economists speaking a language that only monetary experts could understand has been forced to change its ways. Amid rising inequality, weakening global economic prospects, and a pandemic, the central bank has entered into a new era of transparency and activism that has changed its role in modern society in subtle but remarkable ways. This book tells the inside story of this deeply impactful transformation, and what it means for ordinary Americans. Focusing on characters such as the Fed chairman Jerome Powell; the Vice Chair for Supervision Randal Quarles; Vice Chair Lael Brainard; the Minneapolis Fed president Neel Kashkari; and the long-ago Fed Chair Marriner S. Eccles - and driven by the rising tension between Main Street and Wall Street - this is a page-turning account of the modern Fed's inner workings during a crucial inflection point in history. -- Provided by publisher.