Boston Federal Reserve President Susan Collins looked at a 3.7% annual inflation rate and called it "mixed" — another unelected central banker telling working Americans the numbers that shrink their paychecks are basically fine once you "unpack" them.

Speaking at the Fed's Jackson Hole symposium, Collins acknowledged the headline inflation number was "maybe a bit higher than I might have expected." But she insisted that once you strip out the inconvenient parts — like portfolio management fees driven by stock valuations — the picture brightens. Market-based prices for goods and services are running near the Fed's 2% target, she said. So the official story: inflation is gradually fading, and the current interest rate is only "mildly restrictive."

Here's what Collins admitted in the same breath: those "mildly restrictive" rates are holding back small businesses and the housing market. That's not a footnote — that's the entire ballgame for main street. Small businesses can't float cheap debt to expand, and working families can't afford mortgages at these levels. But in the Fed's framing, that's just policy working as intended.

Collins said Boston Fed research shows price pressures may ease from improved productivity and that inflation tied to the Trump administration's import tariffs has "almost run its course." She also said she's ready to raise rates if inflation doesn't cooperate — a warning that the cure could get worse for anyone already struggling under current borrowing costs.

Some of Collins' colleagues think the 3.7% reading already demands action, saying it's time for rates to rise, according to the Spokane Spokesman-Review. Bloomberg Tax News noted Collins sees rates restraining smaller businesses and housing even as she stuck to the "mixed" label. The gap between what the data shows and what the Fed chooses to emphasize is the story.

Collins said she's watching bond yields but sees no evidence inflation expectations are rising among investors. Asked about Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's recent bond market intervention, she declined to comment specifically, saying only the Fed would "assess how things are evolving and address that matter as is appropriate."

Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh may address inflation in his keynote speech Friday.

The open question: how many months of "mixed" data does it take before the Fed admits the numbers aren't unpacking themselves into the picture they keep promising? Working Americans aren't waiting for the answer — they're paying it at the register.