Well, I agree that it's at least problematic to use unemployment to flight inflation, whether it is unethical (A notion that would make old Chuck laugh out loud) depends on a lot of things, like, what provision is made for the unemployed.
I don't like the term "natural rate" of unemployment, although -- although! the concept behind it can be used, as Keynes use it, to attack the neoclassical idea that all markets clear if the prices are right. Keynes observed that it is a deep fact about capitalism that the labor market NEVER clears, which is a big problem for the NCE and in fact for Friedman's school too.
And the concept behind it can be used as old Chuck used it, whom JMK ignorantly despised, to underwrite the point that capitalism _needs_ a "reserve army of unemployed" to enforce labor discipline. Friedman's NARU idea is sort of a right wing way of admitting these uncomfortable facts. And I don't excuse the evil old bat, but he's far from unique in having ideological blinders.
--- John Thornton <jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> andie nachgeborenen wrote:
> > Milton Friedman believed a lot of silly, wrong, or
> > wicked things. I don't endorse all his views
> because
> > he agreed with me on one of them. I don't say that
> all
> > his views were consistent either.
>
> I wasn't suggesting any of the above, just pointing
> out that the idea of
> a right to a job conflicts with the idea of a
> natural rate of
> unemployment. Nothing else.
> Milton was a smart guy who said some smart things
> and some dumb things
> and like many, never let the facts totally disrupt
> his ideological
> viewpoint.
> A tweak here and there kept everything in place for
> him.
> Certainly there is a connection (trade-off seems too
> strong) between the
> employment rate and inflation but using unemployment
> to fight inflation
> is rather unethical in my view even if it should
> turn out that it is the
> easiest way for the state to tackle inflation.
> Hiding ones desire to
> curb inflation using the unemployment rate by
> cloaking it in language
> like "the natural rate of unemployment" is also
> cowardly. Acting as if
> it was a law of nature which cannot be fought is
> loathsome to use a word
> recently misapplied.
>
> John Thornton
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