What did the Fed do in response to the COVID-19 crisis?

The coronavirus crisis in the United Statesand the associated business closures, event cancellations, and work-from-home policiestriggered a deep economic downturn. The sharp contraction and deep uncertainty about the course of the virus and economy sparked a dash for casha desire to hold deposits and only the most liquid assetsthat disrupted financial markets and threatened to make a dire situation much worse. The Federal Reserve stepped in with a broad array of actions to keep credit flowing to limit the economic damage from the pandemic. These included large purchases of U.S. government and mortgage-backed securities and lending to support households, employers, financial market participants, and state and local governments. We are deploying these lending powers to an unprecedented extent [and] will continue to use these powers forcefully, proactively, and aggressively until we are confident that we are solidly on the road to recovery, Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors,said in April 2020. In that same month, Powell discussed the Feds goals during awebinarat the Brookings Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy. This post summarizes the Feds actions though the end of 2021.