Why Have Inflation Expectations Surged Recently? A Historical Perspective

Philippe Andrade and Michael Wicklein

No 25-14, Current Policy Perspectives from Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

Abstract: How much of the most recent surge in inflation expectations, which began in March 2025, has been the result of the usual effect of abnormal price movements? How much is left unexplained and may signal a potential de-anchoring of inflation expectations? How do the most recent and the pandemic-era surges in expectations compare with the two surges in the Great Inflation episode of the 1970s? This brief addresses those questions using data on inflation expectations from the University of Michigan Survey of Consumers and a simple regression model in which households form their inflation expectations based on their perception of movements in food and gas prices as well as broad-based inflation.

Keywords: inflation expectations; inflation; de-anchoring; 1970s inflation; household surveys (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D83 E31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 8
Date: 2025-10-09
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