> And the Fed is supposed to be independent, free from political control, to keep the politicians from meddling in the economy.
No, the Fed is supposed to be relatively isolated from short-run political influence to put a step of separation between government fiscal policy targeting the economy (the responsibility of Congress) from monetary policy affecting the currency (the responsibility of the Fed) except to the extent that the former effects the landscape that the latter targets, to maintain confidence in the currency by making monetization of debt unlikely.
This is very much not to prevent the elected officials of government from intervening in the economy. If anything, it frees them to do so, because the barrier against monetization of debt not only protects the currency, it protects policymakers from the perception that deficits will likely be resolved with monetization, which is a brake on fiscal policy that involves deficit spending.
No, the Fed is supposed to be relatively isolated from short-run political influence to put a step of separation between government fiscal policy targeting the economy (the responsibility of Congress) from monetary policy affecting the currency (the responsibility of the Fed) except to the extent that the former effects the landscape that the latter targets, to maintain confidence in the currency by making monetization of debt unlikely.
This is very much not to prevent the elected officials of government from intervening in the economy. If anything, it frees them to do so, because the barrier against monetization of debt not only protects the currency, it protects policymakers from the perception that deficits will likely be resolved with monetization, which is a brake on fiscal policy that involves deficit spending.