For three decades (roughly 1990–2020), the dominant macro playbook relied on small, predictable adjustments. Central banks would move interest rates by 25 basis points. Governments would tweak marginal tax rates. The logic was that markets were efficient and shocks were minor.

That era is dead. Post-COVID inflation was not a gradual overheating; it was a supply-shock tsunami. When a global pandemic shreds logistics, raising interest rates by a quarter point is like spitting on a house fire. Policymakers had to deploy , direct stimulus checks , and near-zero interest rates for trillions in lending . These were not "fine-tunes." They were Big Macro Tools—clumsy, expensive, and absolutely necessary.

Big Macro Tool Instant

For three decades (roughly 1990–2020), the dominant macro playbook relied on small, predictable adjustments. Central banks would move interest rates by 25 basis points. Governments would tweak marginal tax rates. The logic was that markets were efficient and shocks were minor.

That era is dead. Post-COVID inflation was not a gradual overheating; it was a supply-shock tsunami. When a global pandemic shreds logistics, raising interest rates by a quarter point is like spitting on a house fire. Policymakers had to deploy , direct stimulus checks , and near-zero interest rates for trillions in lending . These were not "fine-tunes." They were Big Macro Tools—clumsy, expensive, and absolutely necessary. big macro tool