[PEN-L:3485] Reverend Tom's prescient sermon on NAIRU

[Rob Schaap <carob@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

G'day Big,

Before I pull my head in for a bit, here's one on an economic note.   One
Tom Walker wrote this to us exactly
two years ago (4 February, '97):

'Stay tuned for 'The End Of NAIRU,' coming to a listserv near you.  Two
years from now you won't be able to find an economist anywhere who will
admit to having believed in the 'natural rate of unemployment'.  Print this
prediction and paste it on your monitor, if it doesn't come true, send me
the paper and I'll eat it.'

Close enough, Tom.  May I nominate you for smug bastard of the month?

Might the Phillips Curve be on the way out, and, if so, what does this mean
for monetarism within the mainstream?  And might economics faculties
contemplate calling themselves political economy faculties from now on?  I
mean, if something ain't natural, it must be artificial, no?  Like, mebbe,
er, political ...

Cheers,
Rob.