The Fed, in the short run, tolerates the pressure rising energy prices exert on headline price measures, Mr. Bernanke said. "Our objective is to make sure it doesn't pass through into other wages and prices, in other words, that there are not second-round effects," he said.
"In the long run, what we would like to control is headline inflation," Mr. Bernanke said, "After all, that's what is determining the value of money, and it's what people need for their planning," along with being the force that "affects real wages and real incomes," he said.
"It is very difficult to eliminate the inflationary impact of the immediate effects of an increase in energy prices," he said. "Doing so would require forcing down wages and other prices quite dramatically to keep the overall price level from rising."
From Q&A session reported by the Wall Street Journal