> But on the other hand, I feel like the current stance of the fed - "raise the rates to stop hot employment and wage growth" - is a cop out. Inflation control is the second of their two mandates, employment is the first.
This is the real reason we need a proper, comfortable safety net and higher minimum wages. In my opinion it is very good to lower the wages of higher wage earners in order to raise interest rates, and just buffer the large number of marginal people (America the beautiful, can't afford to get a tooth pulled) who would actually suffer with transfer payments.
But even if you don't believe that, lower-income people have a higher exposure to inflated prices simply because all of their income goes to consumption. So they should be supplemented.