scholarly journals Recovering Keynesian Phillips curve theory: hysteresis of ideas and the natural rate of unemployment

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 473-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Palley
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Phillips Curve ◽  
50Th Anniversary ◽  
Theoretical Argument ◽  
Natural Rate ◽  
Macroeconomic Theory ◽  
Natural Rate Of Unemployment ◽  
Economics Profession ◽  
Curve Theory

Economic theory is prone to hysteresis. Once an idea is adopted, it is difficult to change. In the 1970s, the economics profession abandoned the Keynesian Phillips curve and adopted Milton Friedman's natural rate of unemployment (NRU) hypothesis. The shift was facilitated by a series of lucky breaks. Despite much evidence against the NRU, and much evidence and theoretical argument supportive of the Keynesian Phillips curve, the NRU hypothesis remains ascendant. The hypothesis has had an enormous impact on macroeconomic theory and policy. 2018 is the 50th anniversary of Friedman's introduction of the NRU hypothesis. The anniversary offers an opportunity to challenge rather than celebrate it.

FRIEDMAN’S NOBEL LECTURE AND THE PHILLIPS CURVE MYTH

2010 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
JAMES FORDER
Keyword(s):  
Phillips Curve ◽  
Macroeconomic Policy ◽  
Natural Rate ◽  
Nobel Lecture ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Natural Rate Of Unemployment ◽  
Reasonable Range ◽  
Economics Profession ◽  
Uncritical Acceptance

In his Nobel lecture, Friedman built on his earlier argument for a “natural rate of unemployment” by painting a picture of an economics profession which, as a result of foolish mistakes, had accepted the Phillips curve as offering a lasting trade-off between inflation and unemployment, and was thereby led to advocate a policy of inflation. It is argued here that, in fact, the orthodox economists of the time often did not accept Phillips’ analysis; almost no one made the mistakes in question; and very few advocated inflation on bases vulnerable to Friedman’s theoretical criticisms. The Phillips curve was put to various uses, but advocating inflation was hardly amongst them. It is suggested that one lasting result of the uncritical acceptance of Friedman’s history is to limit what appears to be within the reasonable range of views about macroeconomic policy.

scholarly journals The relationship between inflation and unemployment: a critique of Friedman and Phelps

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 533-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis-Philippe Rochon ◽  
Sergio Rossi
Keyword(s):  
Phillips Curve ◽  
Presidential Address ◽  
50Th Anniversary ◽  
Banking System ◽  
World Population ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Natural Rate ◽  
Interest Rate Policy ◽  
Natural Rate Of Unemployment ◽  
The One

The ‘natural rate of unemployment’ was not an important part of Friedman's presidential address, although it is what the paper is remembered for. On the 50th anniversary of the paper, we argue that there is no ‘natural rate of unemployment’, and that the relation between inflation and unemployment is not the one assumed by Friedman or neoclassical theory. In Section 2 we present the conventional framework in which the Phillips curve is drawn by neoclassical economists. It emphasizes the exogenous nature of money, as well as the assumption that (a large part of) unemployment has to do with workers’ trade-off between paid work and leisure time (in a utility maximization perspective). Section 3 explains that the neoclassical framework is flawed, because money is endogenous and unemployment is not simply an outcome of workers’ choices with regard to the observed ‘equilibrium’ wage level. This section points out that inflation cannot be controlled with an interest-rate policy and that unemployment is the result of a lack of effective demand (hence it is involuntary). Section 4 provides two alternative macroeconomic analyses, one where inflation as well as unemployment are explained by the disorderly working of the banking system and another where conflict in the functional distribution of income within a monetary economy of production dominates. The conclusion offers some policy-oriented remarks as regards contemporary fiscal and monetary policies that a variety of countries have been adopting in their (largely ineffective) attempt to emerge from the crisis that erupted in 2008 at the global level – whose negative consequences still affect a relevant part of the world population.

scholarly journals Offre globale en économie ouverte, courbe de Phillips et détermination du taux de chômage naturel : une reformulation théorique

2009 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 375-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis Phaneuf
Keyword(s):  
Phillips Curve ◽  
Structural Model ◽  
Reduced Form ◽  
Supply Side ◽  
Special Importance ◽  
Natural Rate ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
Natural Rate Of Unemployment ◽  
Long Run

Criticizing the fact the Phillips curve wage and price equations are usually reduced form or quasi-reduced form equations without an explicit structural model behind, this article is an attempt to provide a supply side based structural model of the Phillips curve. Of special importance are the theoretical specifications of the resulting wage and price equations that include several new explanatory variables and especially policy variables. After having demonstrated under what structural conditions the price-Phillips curve of this model will be a vertical in the long run, the model is solved for the theoretical specification of the natural rate of unemployment.

A short story of the Phillips curve: from Phillips to Friedman… and back?

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 493-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonella Stirati ◽  
Walter Paternesi Meloni
Keyword(s):  
Short Story ◽  
Path Dependence ◽  
Phillips Curve ◽  
Presidential Address ◽  
Alternative Theory ◽  
Natural Rate ◽  
Macroeconomic Theory ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Change Of Perspective ◽  
Original Approach

A major contribution of Friedman's 1968 presidential address was the introduction of the long-run vertical Phillips curve. That view, which is consistent with neoclassical foundations, has become so profoundly entrenched in macroeconomists' thinking that increasing evidence of ‘hysteresis’ has not as yet dislodged it. The prevailing notion of the non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment (NAIRU) is constructed in terms of the ‘natural’ unemployment rate, which has allowed for some changes regarding its microeconomic determinants. However, the macroeconomic features of Friedman's natural rate and the NAIRU remain very much the same and unchanged. The blatant path-dependence of empirically estimated NAIRUs creates a dissociation between macroeconomic theory and empirics which, in our view, is unacceptable and demands a change of perspective. Adopting an alternative theory of distribution and employment might rehabilitate the original approach taken by Phillips vis-à-vis Friedman's legacy.

scholarly journals Market Power, NAIRU, and the Phillips Curve

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Derek Zweig
Keyword(s):  
Interest Rates ◽  
Phillips Curve ◽  
Functional Form ◽  
The United States ◽  
Medium Term ◽  
Natural Rate ◽  
Natural Rate Of Unemployment ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Weak Evidence ◽  
Short Run

We explore the relationship between unemployment and inflation in the United States (1949-2019) through both Bayesian and spectral lenses. We employ Bayesian vector autoregression (“BVAR”) to expose empirical interrelationships between unemployment, inflation, and interest rates. Generally, we do find short-run behavior consistent with the Phillips curve, though it tends to break down over the longer term. Emphasis is also placed on Phelps’ and Friedman’s NAIRU theory using both a simplistic functional form and BVAR. We find weak evidence supporting the NAIRU theory from the simplistic model, but stronger evidence using BVAR. A wavelet analysis reveals that the short-run NAIRU theory and Phillips curve relationships may be time-dependent, while the long-run relationships are essentially vertical, suggesting instead that each relationship is primarily observed over the medium-term (2-10 years), though the economically significant medium-term region has narrowed in recent decades to roughly 4-7 years. We pay homage to Phillips’ original work, using his functional form to compare potential differences in labor bargaining power attributable to labor scarcity, partitioned by skill level (as defined by educational attainment). We find evidence that the wage Phillips curve is more stable for individuals with higher skill and that higher skilled labor may enjoy a lower natural rate of unemployment.

A Critique of A Marxist Critique Of Thorstein Veblen

2008 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adil H. Mouhammed
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Business Cycle ◽  
Productive Capacity ◽  
Thorstein Veblen ◽  
Macroeconomic Theory ◽  
Adequate Theory ◽  
Economics Profession ◽  
The Business Cycle ◽  
Principle Theory ◽  
Microeconomic Foundations

Over his career, Thorstein Veblen provided the economics profession with a magnificent economic theory which later proved superior to other economic theories. His principle theory concerns the microeconomic foundations of reserve productive capacity and mark-up pricing. He also examines macroeconomic theory dealing with inflation, unemployment, the business cycle, productivity and income distribution, and economic development. His entire economic theory is ultimately critical of imperialism, militarism, and patriotism, as well as the higher plane capitalism in its zenith of large corporations and financial magnates. Given all these contributions, Marxist economists such as Sweezy, Baran, Dowd, and Hunt have criticized Veblen’s work as being grounded in Say’s Law. They criticize Veblen for having no adequate theory of investment and employment, a weak theory of imperialism, an incomplete theory of the business cycle, a tendency to racism, weak materialism, and so on. This paper aims at providing a condensed review of Veblen’s economic theory within his evolutionary framework, and criticizes the Marxist critique of Veblen’s work. It is hoped that this paper will convince Veblen’s critics of the significant value of his work.

Comparative Properties of Models of the UK Economy

1990 ◽  
Vol 133 ◽  
pp. 91-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.G. Fisher ◽  
D.S. Turner ◽  
K.F. Wallis ◽  
J.D. Whitley
Keyword(s):  
Phillips Curve ◽  
Demand Management ◽  
Nominal Wage ◽  
Natural Rate ◽  
Price Inflation ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Natural Rate Of Unemployment ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Uk

The nature of the association between inflation and the level of unemployment has been a persistent issue of controversy over the last three decades. Initially, attention focussed on the statistical relationship between nominal wage inflation and unemployment— the Phillips curve—which could be seen equally as a relationship between price inflation and unemployment, if prices are a constant mark-up on wages. This was quickly adopted as a menu for policy choice, describing the trade-off between increases in unemployment and reductions in inflation. By the 1970s, however, the question was whether a long-run trade-off existed at all, the OECD economies having experienced rising unemployment and, simultaneously, rising inflation. The subsequent re-examination of labour market behaviour introduced the concept of an equilibrium rate (the natural rate) of unemployment which, in the monetarist view, was not amenable to demand management policies. More recent developments reflect a growing concern with the supply side of the economy, including the question of what determines the non accelerating inflation rate of unemployment (NAIRU).

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