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The underlying purpose of Powell's rapid interest rate raises is to break the back of labor just as Volker did in the 1980's. Powell has been quite explicit about his goals.

With the labor movement starting to show its power to a degree I haven't seen in over 40 years, Wall Street is afraid that increasing wages will cut into their obscene profits. Having a "reserve army of the unemployed" allows companies keep wages down by hiring the desperate who will work for less just to get a paycheck.

We are in a recession and are heading for a depression. It may not be as bad as 1929, and the financial system may not collapse like it almost did in 2008, but the working class and most of the middle class is in for a world of hurt.

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