Saturday, November 22, 2008

The Bean-Counter's Idea of a Trade-Off


As far as average inflation and unemployment rates are concerned we were at point A with the MSM-MMM government and Dr Sithanen quickly took us to point B in two and half short years: 3% more inflation and 1.4% more unemployment. One more reason for the guy to go when you consider that the Phillips curve turned 50 this year.

7 comments:

SR said...

Do you mean a trade off between applied knowledge and hubris?

In a recent article, The Economist makes a wonderful remark: The lesson is that careful analysis should precede any sweeping statements about the economic benefits of specific policies.

In the land of the blind, the World Bank/IMF think-alikes are kings!

Sanjay Jagatsingh said...

I agree with that plus you should leave the door open for some doubt which is another way of highlighting the importance of staying up-to-date.

akagugo said...

For those who are not familiar with Phillip's curve, here's some explanation why the inflation v/s unemployment trade-off is not necessarily automatic. The economy is not a toy, and playing with it too roughly may cause wide variations and lag/swing effects (hysteresis, excuse the jargon) can require long time periods in order to adjust.
Non?

SR said...

All I see is that common sense comes to you ...automatically. Unlike Big Media punditry!

SR said...

Oops! Forgot to invite those interested in debunking similar drivel to get a copy of Ha-Joon Chang's riveting 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism. I suspect it is set to earn The Affluent Society's status in History.

Comrade said...

Is this a communist blog SR?

'cause you cant win against capitalism, its like an old aunt to dont like but have to visit!

Sanjay Jagatsingh said...

MAS's MR had a little box on the Phillips curve a few years ago.

Communist blog? Try common-sense blog.