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Economists on Samuelson and Solow on the Phillips curve

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  • James Forder

Abstract

Samuelson and Solow published a widely read paper in the May issue of the American Economic Review of 1960. It discussed the causes of inflation, the Phillips curve, and related matters. Discussion of their paper frequently says that it presented the Phillips curve as a stable, exploitable relation, and hence played an important role in the development of inflationary policy. This is hardly so. Sometimes authors notice this, but they nevertheless say it was misread as advocating inflationary policy and hence played the same role in policy development. Close attention to what was said about it in the relevant period – the 1960s – reveals that it was not then seen as advocating inflationary policy at all. This raises a strange puzzle as to why it was that, rather suddenly, it came to be incorrectly said that Samuelson and Solow had been interpreted as being inflationist when they neither were that, nor had been interpreted in that way.

Suggested Citation

  • James Forder, 2010. "Economists on Samuelson and Solow on the Phillips curve," Economics Series Working Papers 516, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:oxf:wpaper:516
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    4. Ronald Johnson, 1983. "Supply-side economics: The rise to prominence," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 12(2), pages 189-202, December.
    5. Brian Snowdon & Howard R. Vane, 1999. "Conversations with Leading Economists," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1607.
    6. David Laidler, 2003. "The role of the history of economic thought in modern macroeconomics," Chapters, in: Paul Mizen (ed.), Monetary History, Exchange Rates and Financial Markets, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Lohani, Prakash & Thompson, Earl A, 1971. "The Optimal Rate of Secular Inflation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 79(5), pages 962-982, Sept.-Oct.
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    Cited by:

    1. Aurélien Goutsmedt & Erich Pinzon-Fuchs & Matthieu Renault & Francesco Sergi, 2017. "Reacting to the Lucas Critique: The Keynesians' Pragmatic Replies," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 17042, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    2. André Roncaglia de Carvalho & Carlos Eduardo Suprinyak, 2022. "An emigrant economist in the tropics: Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen on Brazilian inflation and development," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 46(3), pages 561-579.
    3. Goulven Rubin, 2012. "Robert Solow de la courbe de Phillips à la question des fondements de la macroéconomie: 1960-1981," Working Papers hal-00852269, HAL.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • B22 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Macroeconomics
    • B23 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Econometrics; Quantitative and Mathematical Studies

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