Any attempt to use expansionary government policies to drive unemployment below a certain level, they demonstrated, would fuel inflationary expectations and undermine both economic growth and employment. That analysis both anticipated and explained the combination of rising inflation and rising unemployment of the 1970’s that came to be known as “stagflation.”
六十年代，弗里德曼表明，凯恩斯主义以政府开支为手段的需求管理不断增加货币供应，加快了工资和价格增长。他和今年的诺贝尔经济学奖得主菲尔普斯一道证明了失业率和通货膨胀之间并无稳定的联系。他们表明，任何使用扩张性的政府政策来将失业率压低到一定水平的企图都将燃起通货膨胀的预期并同时破坏经济增长和就业。这一分析同时预计并且解释了发生在七十年代的通货膨胀与失业率同时不断上升的、被成为“滞胀”的现象。