True, overall inflation moved up with energy prices, and some of the pickup in core inflation last year probably reflected the transitory effects of the pass-through of increased energy costs. However, that pass-through was a mere ripple compared with the behavior of the 1970s. Similarly, when gasoline prices surge, surveys of household inflation expectations still move up, but not for long.
By contrast, in the 1970s, survey expectations moved up sharply and remained elevated in the wake of the two oil shocks. Indicators of long-term inflation expectations did not exist in the 1970s, but in the current period, the stability of these expectations has been remarkable.