The Fed would face such a downturn with interest rates already low. Its benchmark short-term rate is in a range of 1.50% to 1.75%, down from 2.25%-2.50% in late 2018 and from 5.25% before the Great Recession. That means the Fed would have less ammunition in the form of rate cuts — even if lower borrowing rates were the right prescription for this crisis. Other central banks have even less monetary firepower after having already cut their benchmark rates below zero.