We may look back on the response to the Great Depression and wonder...did they actually get it right.

What we're seeing now is a Fed that has backstopped many asset classes. They had the leeway to do that because inflation just kept staying low. Now, finally, the inflation monster is rising again and we're in a corner. The Fed can't meaningfully raise rates because the debt would eat us alive. They can't keep standing on the monetary lever at full speed because the inflation problem could become entrenched.

Look at this:

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/WALCL

Even with inflation at multi-decade highs they're still adding to their balance sheet at a rate of about 1.5 trillion a year. Certain things can go on for a long time but you can't keep issuing debt out one door and creating the money to buy it back from the other door. The best indicator you need to quit doing that is inflation which we now already have. It's all downhill from here because once the system is telling you that too much money is chasing too few goods then it all becomes somewhat predictable.