To close out the highest year of inflation since the Paul Volcker era, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell gave Wall Street an inch, only to take a mile. Finally proving himself worthy of filling Volcker’s shoes, Powell has defied investor expectations all year, bringing the federal funds rate to the 4.25% through 4.5% range and enacting quantitative easing significant enough to shrink the money supply for the first time since World War II. Powell decelerated rate hikes for the first time since the first half of this year. Hawks are concerned, while doves are apoplectic. But here is the case for Powell’s path forward.