Instead of a focus on intermediate objectives, like the exchange rate or the money supply, the operational framework of policy was now built around a final objective, inflation. In describing inflation as the final objective in this context, I should make clear that inflation control is viewed as a means to an end rather than an end in itself.
A related implication is that, if inflation expectations are well anchored, changes in energy (and food) prices should have relatively little influence on "core" inflation, that is, inflation excluding the prices of food and energy. Although inflation expectations seem much better anchored today than they were a few decades ago, they appear to remain imperfectly anchored. A number of studies confirm that observation.