Problem
I. Inflation, expected inflation and unemployment. The Philips curve, interactions among various variables in the Philips curve, their effects on each other.
II. Expectations augmented/accelerationist Philips curve and mutations of the original Philips curve.
III. NAIRU, Determinants of changes in NAIRU
IV. Variations in the natural rate of unemployment across countries and across time. What explains changes in un in US and Europe?
V. According to the Philips Curve and the Monetarist approach to macro theory, what are the effects of an increase in the money supply growth rate on unemployment and the inflation rate in the short run and medium run? According to the Monetarist approach and the quantity theory of money, is monetary policy affective in stimulating output and employment in the medium run?
VI. How does the Quantity theory tradition explain the causes of high inflation in the 1970s? What are the heterodox explanations?
VII. Why do some economists argue that the Fed is making a mistake by targeting wages rather than markups in its current attempt to reduce inflation? What are competing explanations of the inflation in the US right now?
VIII. What explains European unemployment? Do stricter labor market regulations, strong unions, unemployment benefits and other labor market protections such as minimum wages, severance pay, paid vacation, etc. cause higher unemployment and hurt competitiveness? Compare the neoclassical answer with other alternative theories.
IX. What are costs and benefits of higher minimum wages?
X. What causes decreasing un in US?