All right Mango, here is my Fed rant without any conspiracy theory.
The Fed targets 2 things only: Unemployment and the rate of inflation. That's IT. The only thing the Fed cares about is minimizing unemployment (higher aggregate utility) without compromising price stability. That's it.
Except for the new quantitative levers, the rate lever is the only one they actually use.
There may be some disagreement about how the quantitative lever works, but there is (almost) an agreement about rate channel dis/incentivisation of borrowing:
a) Higher (real) rates discourage borrowing by making capital outlays larger relative to income or reducing the prospective return on capital.
b) Additionally, they change marginal propensities to save amongst consumers, but A LOT less than many people think, credit demand trumps savings demand.
So why would the Fed increase rates to disincentivise loan demand or raise IOER to lower credit supply when:
1) There is no loan demand. 2) Or growth. 3) Or capital investments. 4) Or inflation. 5) Or unsustainable income growth risking future price stability.
And that is the situation facing the Fed and its next Chairman whoever that may be.
Back to whoever wants to continue with conspiracy theories. They are much more entertaining than simple facts.
