Investing.com - January's report on consumer prices triggered inflation alarms on Wall Street, but it's been a long time since inflation posed a serious threat.Three decades of globalization have kept inflation in check, even during three of the longest economic expansions in U.S. history.Inflation, as measured by consumer prices, has been under 4% in all but one year since 1991. For instance, during the decade-long economic boom of the 1990s, CPI averaged 2.66% a year. In the period before the Great Recession, the average annual rate was 2.78%. It's been almost 30 years since inflation managed to spin out of control. It hit double-digits in 1979 and 1980, after a decade long advance.Wall Street professionals from those days who are still around no doubt remember, but there's little chance they'll live to see inflation like that again.