But pretending that inflation is the only objective, while taking account of output variability in practice, only makes for less-transparent policy and ensures that the central bank will have difficulty communicating the rationale for its policy actions. I remember the first conference I attended after joining the Board of Governors.
Two foreign central bankers – each from inflation-targeting countries – lectured me about how "good" central bankers acted in public. They each told me that a disciplined central banker would never admit to having a stabilization objective and never admit that there was a cost of lowering inflation.