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Low Inflation Bends the Phillips Curve

Author

Listed:
  • Joseph E. Gagnon

    (Peterson Institute for International Economics)

  • Christopher G. Collins

    (Peterson Institute for International Economics)

Abstract

The Phillips curve, which traces out a negative relationship between inflation and unemployment, has undergone tremendous changes over more than 100 years. Some researchers argue that the slope of the curve in the United States fell substantially around 20 years ago so that unemployment now has little or no effect on inflation. This paper shows that another hypothesis is equally consistent with the data: The Phillips curve may be nonlinear when inflation is low, with the economy having operated in the flat region of the curve for most of the past 20 years. The next few years may be decisive in the debate between these hypotheses, as unemployment has returned to a range in which a nonlinear curve ought to display significant steepness. A flat Phillips curve implies little change in inflation going forward, but a nonlinear curve implies moderate increases in inflation over the next few years.

Suggested Citation

  • Joseph E. Gagnon & Christopher G. Collins, 2019. "Low Inflation Bends the Phillips Curve," Working Paper Series WP19-6, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:iie:wpaper:wp19-6
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Arai, Natsuki, 2023. "The FOMC’s new individual economic projections and macroeconomic theories," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    2. Kabundi, Alain & Poon, Aubrey & Wu, Ping, 2023. "A time-varying Phillips curve with global factors: Are global factors important?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    3. Andrew Keinsley & Sandeep Kumar Rangaraju, 2021. "The Nonlinear Unemployment-Inflation Relationship and the Factors That Define It," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 47(3), pages 354-377, June.
    4. Davide Debortoli & Mario Forni & Luca Gambetti & Luca Sala, 2020. "Asymmetric monetary policy tradeoffs," Economics Working Papers 1742, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Sep 2023.
    5. Forbes, Kristin, 2019. "Inflation Dynamics: Dead, Dormant, or Determined Abroad?," CEPR Discussion Papers 14195, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. De Palma Francesco & Ligonnière Samuel & Saadaoui Jamel & Thommen Yann, 2022. "The role of wage bargaining institutions in the Phillips curve flattening;," Working Papers of BETA 2022-21, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    7. Benigno, Pierpaolo & Eggertsson, Gauti, 2023. "It's Baaack: The Surge in Inflation in the 2020s and the Return of the Non-Linear Phillips Curve," CEPR Discussion Papers 18116, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Gent Bajraj & Guillermo Carlomagno & Juan M. Wlasiuk, 2023. "Where is the Inflation? The Diverging Patterns of Prices of Goods and Services," Working Papers Central Bank of Chile 969, Central Bank of Chile.
    9. Fabio Busetti & Michele Caivano & Davide Delle Monache, 2021. "Domestic and Global Determinants of Inflation: Evidence from Expectile Regression," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 83(4), pages 982-1001, August.
    10. Harding, Martín & Lindé, Jesper & Trabandt, Mathias, 2022. "Resolving the missing deflation puzzle," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 15-34.
    11. Emilie Jasova & Bozena Kaderabkova, 2022. "The effectiveness of government measures in the first wave of Covid-19 pandemic," International Journal of Economic Sciences, European Research Center, vol. 11(1), pages 19-36, April.
    12. Aquino, Juan, 2019. "The Small Open Economy New-Keynesian Phillips Curve: Specification, Structural Breaks and Robustness," Working Papers 2019-019, Banco Central de Reserva del Perú.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment (NAIRU); unemployment rate;

    JEL classification:

    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation

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