The First Fed Chair With Cojones in 20 Years: Why Powell Deserves Some Damn Respect

Let’s call it what it is: Jerome Powell is the first Federal Reserve Chair in two decades who’s had the spine to stare down Wall Street and say,“Not my job to pump your bags.”

While markets whine and politicians posture, Powell has done something rare:He’s chosen economic stability over asset inflation, data over dopamine, and discipline over drama.

👴 The Last 20 Years? Full of Enablers.

Let’s rewind.

• Ben Bernanke handed out QE like candy. The man built a post-crisis world addicted to cheap money and zero interest. When the taper tantrum hit, he blinked.

• Janet Yellen? Even more market-friendly. A masterclass in dovish central banking. Every hiccup in equities got a cuddle.

• Alan Greenspan before them? Arguably the original sin. He inflated bubbles and let Wall Street believe in the “Fed put.”

These weren’t just central bankers. They were asset price caretakers.

⚖️ Enter Jerome Powell — A Different Breed

Powell, a lawyer by training, not an economist, brings a pragmatism sorely missing from Fed culture.

He hiked rates into market resistance.He told investors — repeatedly — that fighting inflation would hurt.He didn’t cut just because stocks wobbled.And in his most recent remarks at the Economic Club of Chicago, he stayed true to form:

“We're not going to make policy based on market swings. Our job is the economy.”

That’s how you talk when you’re not trying to be liked. That’s how you talk when your job isn’t to goose the S&P but to protect the real economy from spiraling inflation and long-term structural rot.

🧠 Smart Policy, Not Just Hardline Posturing

Powell isn’t reckless. He’s disciplined.He’s balanced full employment with price stability better than anyone expected post-COVID.He’s been transparent about risk.And unlike Bernanke or Yellen, he doesn’t seem to care if Goldman Sachs likes him.

That’s not just guts. That’s good governance.

💬 Final Word: Give This Man His Flowers

Love him or hate him, Powell’s Fed has been the adult in the room.

No “Fed put.”No sugar-rush stimulus. No crowd-pleasing cuts.

Just a guy doing his job — finally.

Let Wall Street cry. Let crypto influencers rage. Let bond bulls moan. We need a central banker who knows the difference between a tantrum and a real threat.

And for the first time in a generation, the market has one.