Public perceptions of the relative seriousness of inflation and unemployment in the United States

Abstract

We analyse the determinants of the public's relative concerns about inflation and unemployment using responses to the Gallup Poll question on the relative seriousness of inflation and unemployment. We then estimate the rate of inflation that politicians will choose to impose on the US economy given the natural rate of unemployment. We find that this rate of inflation, which we call ‘the natural rate of inflation’, is in the region of 5%.