 They have fewer and fewer choices, though these choices cost more and more. Keeping prices down is part of the Fed's mandate. But as many of us have made clear, the Fed's main tool to combat inflation, raising interest rates, does nothing to address the biggest causes of rising prices right now, corporate greed. Keeping rates too high for too long threatens workers' paychecks, while keeping other costs high, particularly housing costs. Housing prices and rents continue to go up.