After the passage of the Federal Reserve Act in 1913 (https://openstax.org/r/federal-reserve-act), the United States has suffered through three great global financial crises: the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Great Recession of 2007–2009 (https://openstax.org/r/the-worlds-most-devastating), and the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020–2021 (https://openstax.org/r/tracking-the-covid-19-recessions-effects). Research one of the latter two crises, and identify and discuss some of the tools used by the Fed to lessen the length and economic severity of the economic hardships. In what ways has this research project supported or changed your opinion about the United States having the Federal Reserve System?