The coronavirus pandemic has led to an unprecedented recession that has devastated the working class. At the time of this writing, over 30 million workers have filed for unemployment. Millions more face unknown health costs, possible eviction, and food insecurity due to this crisis.

As it often does in times of crisis, the Federal Reserve has stepped in. How the Fed has acted, and who has benefited from that action, should be of major concern to socialists. Not surprisingly, it has set economic policy so that capitalists who own and manage banks and large corporations are able to secure cheap credit quickly with barely any conditions, which has allowed them to stay solvent, liquid, and economically stable. Meanwhile, the relief the Federal Reserve has set up for state and local governments comes with arbitrary restrictions that all but guarantee more austerity, economic devastation, and worsened consequences of the pandemic.

The Federal Reserve continues to act as the central bank and central planner for the capitalist class rather than workers. But this doesn’t have to be so. We can fight for policies that democratize the central bank and empower the working class.