Exclusive: Americans have not been impressed by the Fed's coronavirus response
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Wall Street seems to unanimously approve of the Federal Reserve's actions so far, but most Americans are less enthused, a new poll from data firm CivicScience provided for Axios shows.
The state of play: The data shows that just 12% of respondents say they think the Fed has done "very well" in its response to the coronavirus outbreak, while 19% say the Fed has done "very poorly."
Why it matters: The Fed faced significant criticism for the belief among many Americans that it had bailed out big banks and wealthy financiers while average homeowners suffered after the 2008 global financial crisis. The central bank's reputation suffered greatly as a result.
What to watch: Jerome Powell has been very aware of this during his time as Fed chair, and particularly as the Fed has rolled out these sweeping new measures, Mellon's Reinhart says.
- "What’s striking in all the policies is they’re careful to strike a populist tone, constantly reminding us of their Main Street lending program."
- "They are concerned about their political legitimacy and working that better than they did in 08-09. They learned from that experience."
Go deeper: The Fed goes to war with coronavirus
