> If you follow Powell's original comments that raise all that recent ire, you could see how those could be easily construed as "Lets crash the economy"

Sure, I can see how it can be construed that way. I think a broader reading of what Powell is saying would lead you to "let's bring inflation under control, even though it means crashing the economy". That's quite different from "Lets crash the economy so that companies can keep their leverage."

I think the Powell comments you quote later indicate that he'd prefer to get inflation under control without crashing the economy, if possible.

The comments from business leaders don't impress me. Of course they want businesses to go back to having the leverage.