Jerome Powell

Amid the coronavirus emergency, the central bank may have to decide at what point the imperatives of an economic crisis outweigh the requirements of its most severe enforcement action in recent memory.

After the financial crisis banks took a PR beating, limiting bonuses could prevent criticism; the Fed moved with authority in the face of the coronavirus.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank will maintain its muscular efforts to support the flow of credit in the U.S. economy as Americans hunker down from the coronavirus pandemic.

The rush to unload mortgage-backed securities signals that a credit meltdown that began with corporate bonds is spreading to other corners of the market.

The establishment of the Primary Dealer Credit Facility is among a flurry of recent actions by the central bank to limit the economic impact of the coronavirus.

The Federal Reserve's support for the commercial paper market made clear that it was willing to go beyond cutting interest rates, but the central bank may feel pressure to do even more as the crisis worsens.

The actions include cutting the federal funds rate to between 0% and 0.25% and other steps to ease economic stress from the spread of the coronavirus.

The actions include cutting the federal funds rate to between 0% and 0.25% and other steps to ease economic stress from the spread of the coronavirus.

The central bank has been under increasing pressure to act as investors have been losing faith in the Trump administration's efforts to contain the economic fallout.

In announcing the central bank’s emergency rate cut, Chairman Jerome Powell warned that the Fed can only do so much.