It could be argued that Powell did his best during his term, but looking at the results, I don't think the Fed passed the test of dealing with inflation very successfully. The persistence of inflation, especially in the last few years, clearly shows the enormous cost of mistakes and delayed decisions in monetary policy. The Fed's view of inflation as temporary and its failure to act aggressively enough for a long time is now affecting people's purchasing power.
Fed can influence inflation through monetary policy, but they don't control everything in the economy. Pandemics, geopolitical tension, war, and energy price are all outside their control. So trying to bring inflation down while keeping the economy out of a recession is no easy task.
Inflation could have been pushed back below 2% during Powell's term as the rate hike started to do their job. But unfortunately, Trump's return and major geopolitical changes, like the tariff war and wars added more pressure on inflation and made thing a lot harder.
It's always easier said than done, mate.
