The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, April 18, edition that the Federal Reserve's task is to maintain steady interest rates despite pressure to keep long-term inflation expectations stable. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that recent bond market behavior suggests the Fed is succeeding. With U.S. import tariffs on the rise and particularly steep increases on Chinese goods, households' outlook for living costs has also sharply increased. The New York Fed's consumer survey for March showed the one-year inflation outlook jumping to 3.6 per cent for the first time in 18 months. The University of Michigan's more recent equivalent poll for April saw the one-year inflation view soar to 6.7 per cent, the highest such reading since 1981. Despite any household anxieties about tariff-induced price rises, long-term market-based measures of inflation expectations are actually falling back quite significantly. There are three main explanations for recent economic moves: first, that tariffs will cause one-off price hikes rather than ongoing inflation; second, that the Fed's strong stance is being effective; and third, a pessimistic view that the long-term effects of the trade war will reduce demand and control prices.