when volcker assumed his position in mid 1979 he aggressively lifted the federal funds rate to tackle rampant inflation which sat at 9 in the following years the economy cooled substantially experiencing two recessions from 1980 to 1983 with unemployment climbing to 10 8 by the end of 1982 4 current chairman jerome powell has lifted interest rates over the past 12 months at the fastest rate since volcker to tame inflation indicating a possible economic downturn if history repeats after a period of hawkish monetary policy 
the federal funds rate increased from 0 25 in march 2022 to 4 5 in december 2022 the fastest interest rate increase since the volcker era 5