Inflation, Unemployment, and Monetary Policy

The connection between price inflation and real economic activity has been a focus of macroeconomic research and debate. Although this connection is crucial to our understanding of what monetary policy can and cannot accomplish, opinions about its basic properties have swung widely over the years. Many studying monetary policy acknowledge that, contrary to what many modern macroeconomic models suggest, central bank actions often affect both inflation and measures of real economic activity, such as output, unemployment and incomes. But the nature and magnitude of these effects are not yet understood. In this volume the authors present their views on the dilemmas facing US monetary policymakers. The aim of the book is to make both an intellectual contribution to macroeconomics and a practical contribution to the solution of a public policy question of central importance.