EconSim

Phillips Curve

Trade inflation for unemployment in the short run — and see why that tradeoff vanishes in the long run.

Understand why policymakers can trade inflation for unemployment in the short run but not the long run.

  • Inflation–unemployment tradeoff
  • Inflation expectations
  • Natural rate of unemployment
  • Long-run (vertical) Phillips curve
  • Stagflation

Guided walkthrough

Step 1 of 3
Predict first

Drag the demand/policy shock to the right (an expansion).

Before you act, predict what will happen. What happens to unemployment and inflation as the economy moves along the curve? Then do it — did your prediction match what happened?

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Inflation vs. unemployment

The short-run curve trades inflation for unemployment; the vertical long-run curve sits at the natural rate, where expectations have fully adjusted.