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The Inflation Accelerator

Author

Listed:
  • Andres Blanco
  • Corina Boar
  • Callum J. Jones
  • Virgiliu Midrigan

Abstract

We develop a tractable sticky price model in which the fraction of price changesevolves endogenously over time and, consistent with the evidence, increases with inflation. Because we assume that firms sell multiple products and choose how many, but not which, prices to adjust in any given period, our model admits exact aggregation and reduces to a one-equation extension of the Calvo model. This additional equation determines the fraction of price changes. The model features a powerful inflation accelerator – a feedback loop between inflation and the fraction of price changes – which significantly increases the slope of the Phillips curve during periods of high inflation. Applied to the U.S. time series, our model predicts that the slope of the Phillips curve ranges from 0.02 in the 1990s to 0.12 in the 1970s and 1980s.

Suggested Citation

  • Andres Blanco & Corina Boar & Callum J. Jones & Virgiliu Midrigan, 2024. "The Inflation Accelerator," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2024-078, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2024-78
    DOI: 10.17016/FEDS.2024.078
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Fernando Alvarez & Francesco Lippi, 2014. "Price Setting With Menu Cost for Multiproduct Firms," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 82(1), pages 89-135, January.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Phillips curve; Inflation; Price rigidities;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E30 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • E50 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - General

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