Inflation, Unemployment, and Monetary Policy

edited and with an introduction by Benjamin M. Friedman The connection between priceinflation and real economic activity has been a focus of macroeconomic research--and debate--formuch of the past century. Although this connection is crucial to our understanding of what monetarypolicy can and cannot accomplish, opinions about its basic properties have swung widely over theyears.Today, virtually everyone studying monetary policy acknowledges that, contrary to what manymodern macroeconomic models suggest, central bank actions often affect both inflation and measuresof real economic activity, such as output, unemployment, and incomes. But the nature and magnitudeof these effects are not yet understood.In this volume, Robert M. Solow and John B. Taylor presenttheir views on the dilemmas facing U.S. monetary policymakers. The discussants are Benjamin M.Friedman, James K. Galbraith, N. Gregory Mankiw, and William Poole. The aim of this lively exchangeof views is to make both an intellectual contribution to macroeconmics and a practical contributionto the solution of a public policy question of central importance.