Euro zone enters recession after Germany, Ireland growth revision

A recession is a consequence of the price hikes, but is not a goal unto itself - it is also a tool used to get at the real goals, which are to discipline labor by creating higher levels of unemployment via business failures, a consolidation of capital (monopolization), which is also against labor, and finally, setting up the finance sector to hoover up the remains when rates are again dropped.

Simply put, they want you to be paid less, be more afraid of getting fired, and generally have less bargaining power with your employer(s). That runs counter to short-term profits. They know their logic about controlling inflation makes no sense.

Edit: oh and it also helps keep Europe in line