> No, the Fed is trying to lower aggregate consumer demand to rein in the growth in consumer prices. If it could acheive that entirely by adversely impacting av

> No, the Fed is trying to lower aggregate consumer demand to rein in the growth in consumer prices. If it could acheive that entirely by adversely impacting availability and cost of credit while unemployment kept dropping, that would be ideal, given the other side of its dual mandate. It would be ideal. But it is not achievable. So raising unemployment is a short term goal to achieve the broader goal of stability.