The Fed’s commitment to low inflation has not, however, prevented it from being flexible in implementing policy in the short term; in particular, the Fed has not been precluded from responding to adverse shocks to the economy (the second principle). Since the taming of inflation by the Volcker Fed, the United States has faced two recessions, in 1990-91 and in 2001.
In both cases, as you know, the Fed eased policy significantly to support real activity. In particular, in 2001 the Federal Open Market Committee lowered the federal funds rate target by 475 basis points in a period of just under a year.