If workers accurately predict the rate of inflation, is there a short-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment, as predicted by the Phillips curve? Why or why not?
What will be an ideal response?
If workers accurately predict the rate of inflation, then they will incorporate wage adjustments into their contracts that will take inflation into account. The result is no change in the real wage, and no change in the unemployment rate, indicating that there is no trade-off between inflation and unemployment. Instead, the Phillips curve would be vertical.
You might also like to view...
Suppose a U.S. importer purchases "Mexican Oaxaca" cheese for $500 . If the present exchange rate is Mexican peso (MXP) 10 per U.S. dollar, and the MXP appreciates 10 percent against the U.S. dollar between the date of purchase and the date of payment, then the peso value of the invoice when payment is due is:
a. MXP 500. b. MXP 550. c. MXP 4,500. d. MXP 5,500. e. MXP 4,450.
Assume that workers have perfect information about changes in inflation. Which of the following statements is true in this context?
a. Wage rates will not adjust immediately to the price level on account of the fixed contracts. b. The aggregate supply curve of the economy will become perfectly elastic. c. The aggregate supply curve will shift to the right. d. Nominal wage rates will always exceed the real wage rate. e. The economy will continue to produce at the potential level of real GDP.