Central banks have new mission to take back control

The economies of the world were on the verge of destruction as the COVID 19 epidemic swept across the globe in the spring of 2020. Governments locked in their populations and monetary authorities reduced interest rates and increased access to funds to keep businesses from going under. The world's biggest central banks increased their balance sheets by $10 trillion during 2020 and 2021 to stave off a collapse.

Economic life is slowly returning to normal two years later. The central banks have to deal with the aftermath of their extraordinary efforts. Their missions changed overnight from being the sober guardians of price stability to bottomless fountains of cash. Both governments and their private sector are now saddled with a lot of problems - debt, inflation and exchange rate chaos, to name three. and central banks have a new mission: to take back control.