During a period of high unemployment and inflation the government may encourage the Federal Reserve to announce a monetary contraction in order to reduce the expectation of continuing inflation. If the strategy is successful in reducing inflationary expectations, then wage demands would be more modest, price growth would slow, and inflation would be reduced, which creates some welfare benefits for businesses and consumers. Use the concept of time inconsistency to describe why such a strategy may not be credible unless the Federal Reserve has sufficient independence from the government to credibly commit to a low inflation target.