Structural change in the US Phillips curve, 1948-2021: the role of power and institutions

Mark Setterfield and Robert Blecker

No 2201, Working Papers from New School for Social Research, Department of Economics

Abstract: This paper provides an institutional-analytical account of changes in the structure of the US Phillips curve (PC) during the post-war period. It does so by restoring conflict and power to the forefront of macro theory and, in particular, the wage- and price-setting behaviour of workers and firms. The resulting account is consistent with the main stylized facts that characterize the evolution of the US PC since 1948: the disappearance and subsequent reappearance of a ‘standard’ PC (relating the level of the inflation rate, not the change in this rate, to the rate of unemployment); and the flattening of the PC since the 1990s.

Keywords: Phillips Curve; inflation; unemployment; natural rate hypothesis; bargaining power; institutions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E12 E24 E25 E31 N12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 32 pages
Date: 2022-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his, nep-hme, nep-mac and nep-pke
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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http://www.economicpolicyresearch.org/econ/2022/NSSR_WP_012022.pdf First version, 2022 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Structural change in the US Phillips curve, 1948-2021: the role of power and institutions (2022)
Working Paper: Structural change in the US Phillips curve, 1948-2021: the role of power and institutions (2022)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:new:wpaper:2201

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