The Federal Reserve has a dual mandate: keep prices stable (and inflation low) and promote "maximum employment." But sometimes, as the Fed attacks one goal, it can potentially hurt the other. It's a dueling dual mandate.

Today on the show, we call up Raphael Bostic, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, and ask about the origins of the dual mandate and what he thinks about the tension between the two.

Music by Drop Electric. Find us: Twitter / Facebook / Newsletter.

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, PocketCasts and NPR One.

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.