BiggerPockets Money Podcast · Friday, October 2, 2026
Jay Scott explains that the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates to combat inflation, which has been exacerbated by factors including the war in Ukraine and energy price shocks. While the Fed's primary mandates are price stability and maximum employment, current inflationary pressures, particularly from energy costs, threaten these goals, prompting the rate hikes.
“And so what the Fed has done to try and counteract that inflation is they've raised interest rates.”
“And so what the Fed is hoping to do, again, they can't bring energy prices down directly, They're hoping to slow down spending by American consumers, and less spending means less need for energy. Less need for energy means less demand. Less demand means lower prices.”
“And so all that money that was printed in 2020, all the money that was printed between 2021 and 2025 during Biden, that's being printed in the second term under Trump is going to cause tremendous inflation, not just near term and maybe not even near term, because a lot of times that money printing doesn't necessarily translate to short term inflation.”