The Fed generally fights inflation by raising interest rates to cool borrowing and spending. A top Federal Reserve official said Monday that the central bank may have to cause economic pain in the form of higher unemployment to combat stubbornly high inflation. Key points and original sources are listed below.

• The Fed generally fights inflation by raising interest rates to cool borrowing and spending. Historically, such rate hikes have often slowed growth and have even led to recessions.S1

• A top Federal Reserve official said Monday that the central bank may have to cause economic pain in the form of higher unemployment to combat stubbornly high inflation. Austan Goolsbee, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, said in a speech in Lond...S2