What Jerome Powell must do next as Fed chairman

OF ALL AMERICA’S many job openings, this was the most important. On November 22nd President Joe Biden announced that he would renominate Jerome Powell as chairman of the Federal Reserve when his current term expires in February. After a drawn-out selection process, it was reassuring that Mr Biden at last made the obvious choice, opting for a steady pair of hands at a time of economic danger.Mr Powell must confront two broad challenges. The first, and by far the most pressing, is how to tame inflation, now running at its highest rate in more than three decades (see next story). Mr Powell was rightly commended for presiding over a strong response to last year’s pandemic-induced slowdown. Unwinding stimulus will be more treacherous.