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The Welfare Cost of Permanent Inflation and Optimal Short-Run Economic Policy

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  • Martin Feldstein
Abstract
At a minimum, this paper should serve as a warning against too easy an acceptance of the view that the costs of sustained inflation are small relative to the costs of unemployment. If a temporary reduction in unemployment causes a permanent increase in inflation, the present value of the resulting future welfare costs may well exceed the temporary short-run gain. Previous analyses have underestimated the cost of a permanent increase in the inflation rate because they have ignored the growth of the economy and therefore the growth of the future instantaneous welfare costs. In the important case in which the growth of aggregate income exceeds the social discount rate, no reduction in unemployment can justify any permanent increase in the rate of inflation. Quite the contrary, if the inflation rate is above its optimal level, the economy should then be deflated to reduce the inflation rate regardless of the temporary consequences for unemployment.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Feldstein, 1977. "The Welfare Cost of Permanent Inflation and Optimal Short-Run Economic Policy," NBER Working Papers 0201, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:0201
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Martin Feldstein & Jerry Green & Eytan Sheshinski, 1983. "Inflation and Taxes in a Growing Economy with Debt and Equity Finance," NBER Chapters, in: Inflation, Tax Rules, and Capital Formation, pages 44-60, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Brunner, Karl & Meltzer, Allan H., 1976. "The Phillips curve," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 1-18, January.
    3. Franco Modigliani, 1977. "The monetarist controversy; or, should we forsake stabilization policies?," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue Spr suppl, pages 27-46.
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    5. Baily, Martin Neil, 1977. "On the Theory of Layoffs and Unemployment," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 45(5), pages 1043-1063, July.
    6. Hall, Robert E., 1976. "The Phillips curve and macroeconomic policy," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 127-148, January.
    7. Fischer, Stanley, 1977. "Long-Term Contracts, Rational Expectations, and the Optimal Money Supply Rule," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 85(1), pages 191-205, February.
    8. J. Tobin, 1958. "Liquidity Preference as Behavior Towards Risk," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 25(2), pages 65-86.
    9. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1972. "Expectations and the neutrality of money," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 103-124, April.
    10. Phelps, Edmund S & Taylor, John B, 1977. "Stabilizing Powers of Monetary Policy under Rational Expectations," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 85(1), pages 163-190, February.
    11. Arnold Harberger, 1964. "Taxation, Resource Allocation, and Welfare," NBER Chapters, in: The Role of Direct and Indirect Taxes in the Federal Reserve System, pages 25-80, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jagjit S. Chadha, 2009. "Monetary Policy Analysis: An Undergraduate Toolkit," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Giuseppe Fontana & Mark Setterfield (ed.), Macroeconomic Theory and Macroeconomic Pedagogy, chapter 3, pages 55-75, Palgrave Macmillan.
    2. Stanley Fischer & Franco Modigliani, 1978. "Towards an understanding of the real effects and costs of inflation," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 114(4), pages 810-833, December.
    3. Willem H. Buiter & Marcus H. Miller, 1983. "Costs and Benefits of an Anti-Inflationary Policy: Questions and Issues," NBER Working Papers 1252, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Martin S. Feldstein, 1999. "Capital Income Taxes and the Benefit of Price Stability," NBER Chapters, in: The Costs and Benefits of Price Stability, pages 9-46, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Eduardo Wiesner, 2008. "The Political Economy of Macroeconomic Policy Reform in Latin America," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12913.
    6. T.P. Koirala, Ph.D, 2010. "Welfare Costs of Inflation in Nepal: An Empirical Analysis," NRB Economic Review, Nepal Rastra Bank, Economic Research Department, vol. 22(1), pages 57-68, April.
    7. Michael R. Darby & James R. Lothian, 1983. "Conclusions on the International Transmission of Inflation," NBER Chapters, in: The International Transmission of Inflation, pages 491-524, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Matthew D. Shapiro, 1994. "Federal Reserve Policy: Cause and Effect," NBER Chapters, in: Monetary Policy, pages 307-334, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Martin S. Feldstein, 1997. "The Costs and Benefits of Going from Low Inflation to Price Stability," NBER Chapters, in: Reducing Inflation: Motivation and Strategy, pages 123-166, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. T.P. Koirala Ph.D, 2010. "Welfare Costs of Inflation in Nepal: An Empirical Analysis," NRB Economic Review, Nepal Rastra Bank, Research Department, vol. 22, pages 57-68, April.
    11. Darrel Cohen & Kevin Hassett & R. Glenn Hubbard, 1999. "Inflation and the User Cost of Capital: Does Inflation Still Matter?," NBER Chapters, in: The Costs and Benefits of Price Stability, pages 199-234, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Etro, Federico, 2017. "Research in economics and macroeconomics," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 373-383.
    13. Martin Feldstein, 1999. "Introduction to "Costs and Benefits of Price Stability, The"," NBER Chapters, in: The Costs and Benefits of Price Stability, pages 1-8, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Buiter, Willem, 2006. "How Robust is the New Conventional Wisdom? The Surprising Fragility of the Theoretical Foundations of Inflation Targeting and C," CEPR Discussion Papers 5772, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Chuang, Shi-Feng & Huo, Teh-Ming, 2003. "A note on the optimum quantity of money," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 79(2), pages 269-276, May.
    16. David Fielding & Paul Mizen, 2008. "Evidence on the Functional Relationship between Relative Price Variability and Inflation with Implications for Monetary Policy," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 75(300), pages 683-699, November.
    17. Hasan Bakhshi & Andrew Haldane & Neal Hatch, 1998. "Some costs and benefits of price stability in the UK," Bank of England working papers 78, Bank of England.

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