Assume That an Economy Starts at a Long-Run Equilibrium with a Natural

Essay

Assume that an economy starts at a long-run equilibrium with a natural rate of unemployment equal to 6 percent and an inflation rate of 10 percent. Assume that there is a short-run tradeoff between inflation and unemployment as described by a Phillips curve. Use the Phillips curve to graphically illustrate why a central bank that desires both low inflation and low unemployment has the incentive to renege on an announced policy to reduce inflation to 3 percent, if people set wages and prices on the expectation of 3 percent inflation and the central bank has the discretion to change its monetary policy after these expectations are set.