S o how is Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell doing on the job these days?
Ask us again in a year. Maybe two. Because in the dismal science, you can't always judge decisions until they've had time to marinate from quarter to quarter, maybe year to year. Economics isn't easy. Which is why the economy so often surprises.
The Fed has a tough job. It must tighten money to get inflation down to where it wants (say, about 2 percent) but without throwing too many Americans out of jobs. But keep prices down while allowing folks to still buy cars and homes. But keep the economy from overheating, and don't push us into recession.
On the one hand this, on the other hand that. As a president named Truman once exclaimed in frustration: Give me a one-armed economist!
But the best endorsement of Jerome Powell, in our opinion, might have come last week. That's when Sen. Elizabeth Warren blasted the Fed and said Mr. Powell is a "dangerous man to have in this job."
Considering her much-publicized views on how to run an economy, we'd say that was a pretty good endorsement for keeping Chairman Powell around a few more years.