Ivory marked by the Royal African Company. International Slavery Museum, Liverpool. Wikimedia Commons.
Congress told the Federal Reserve to seek jobs and stable prices at the same time.
If money is tight, you want the jobs half of that order when you are out of work.
If you are in the middle, you want both, and you notice when the Fed picks one.
If you have savings, you want the prices half, because inflation is a tax on cash.
The Federal Reserve Reform Act of 1977 told the central bank to promote maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates.
The next year, the Humphrey-Hawkins Act made the Fed explain its goals in public.
The argument over which goal wins did not get settled by writing them down.
Source: Federal Reserve Reform Act of 1977; Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 1978.