The combination of higher interest rates and steadier price growth could be enough to slow a strong economy in much deeper pain. “This is not the kind of scenario where we’re seeing rising prices that monetary policy was built to address,” said Michael Mitchell, research and policy director at the Groundwork Collaborative, a progressive research nonprofit. “By going forward with interest rate hikes right now, they’re actually condemning a lot of people, a lot of workers and families to greater costs and more difficulty in making ends meet.”