'But you don't want zero inflation'

 ...

INSKEEP: Which makes me think also about how the economy is changing. I mean, there was this period from the financial crisis all the way up to the last few years where inflation was frequently below 2%, sometimes almost zero. Sometimes people worried about deflation. It was miraculous for people. It was great for the government. They could borrow so cheaply. And when it ended, there was this period where people thought, oh, it's transitory. It's temporary. Do we just have to get to the idea that the economy has fundamentally changed here?

SAHM: Well, the economy is always changing. So, you know, and there's no one number for inflation that's a magic number. I will say, it may seem a little counterintuitive, but when inflation is really low, when interest rates are really low, that's not always a good sign. Like, that economy after the global financial crisis, the Great Recession...

INSKEEP: Oh, yeah.

SAHM: ...It was pretty weak, right? So in some ways, with inflation, we want kind of a Goldilocks. You know, you need some inflation, needs to be really predictable so people can plan. They can, you know, make sure they get their wages in line with it. But you don't want zero inflation. That's a really, like - the economy is having a really tough time.

So but we just - we're not quite settled into a good, you know, moderate pace of inflation. And we keep getting these one-off - what appear to be one-off shocks, but they add up. And the world may have changed in that way. We may see more of, you know, the geopolitical, the different related to climate or policy, right? So, like, this may be the world we're in. And people need to prepare for that. But I'm not ready to call that change quite yet....

https://www.npr.org/2026/06/11/nx-s1-5853195/inflation-has-hit-a-3-year-high-what-it-means-and-what-the-fed-might-do