Unemployment and inflation are the economy’s two most important macroeconomic issues. The federal
government’s fiscal policy and the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy try to maintain both a low unemployment
rate around a natural rate and a low inflation rate of around 2%.
In your Final Paper,
Evaluate the historical relationship between unemployment and inflation. (hint: You may start from A.W.
Phillips’s finding of the relationship between unemployment and inflation.)
Distinguish between the short-run and the long-run in macroeconomic analysis. Why is the relationship
between unemployment and inflation different in the short-run and the long-run?
Assess the recent 20-year U.S. unemployment and inflation data. Do the current U.S. unemployment and
Do inflation data confirm the short-run Phillips curve?
Analyze why the recent 20-year U.S. unemployment and inflation data approves or disproves the short-run
Phillips curve.
Evaluate whether the Phillips curve can still validly resolve today’s issue of unemployment and inflation and
forecast unemployment and inflation. Why or why not?
Recommend any policy, method, or opinions for the current U.S. unemployment and inflation as a policymaker
for either fiscal policy or monetary policy (or both).
Sample Solution