The Phillips curve reframes a conflict over profits as one about inflation

Evidence

The Phillips curve packages the unpalatable trade-off between profits and unemployment into the more palatable one between inflation and unemployment. This seemingly innocuous choice of variables achieves important wins for the system. By hiding what is really at stake—the protection of profits—it focuses our attention on inflation. We are all led to believe that economists are primarily concerned with combating inflation, a phenomenon that especially hurts those with less purchasing power. So we easily overlook the violent reality of our economy: without unemployment there is no smooth investment. — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 274

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains the real political function of the Phillips curve’s variable choice, redefining a familiar economics concept.
• XREF: connects to: The Phillips curve disguises a profits-versus-unemployment trade-off as an inflation-versus-unemployment one. — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism: An Intervention, 274

Broader Connections

• The Phillips curve disguises a profits-versus-unemployment trade-off as an inflation-versus-unemployment one. #corroborates (0.95) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 274