The Inexorable and Mysterious Tradeoff between Inflation and Unemployment

32 Pages Posted: 1 Sep 2000 Last revised: 18 Jul 2022

See all articles by N. Gregory Mankiw

N. Gregory Mankiw

Harvard University - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Date Written: September 2000

Abstract

This paper discusses the short-run tradeoff between inflation and unemployment. Although this tradeoff remains a necessary building block of business cycle theory, economists have yet to provide a completely satisfactory explanation for it. According to the consensus view among central bankers and monetary economists, a contractionary monetary shock raises unemployment, at least temporarily, and leads to a delayed and gradual fall in inflation. Standard dynamic models of price adjustment, however, cannot explain this pattern of responses. Reconciling the consensus view about the effects of monetary policy with models of price adjustment remains an outstanding puzzle for business cycle theorists.

Suggested Citation

Mankiw, N. Gregory, The Inexorable and Mysterious Tradeoff between Inflation and Unemployment (September 2000). NBER Working Paper No. w7884, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=240721

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