alban william housego "a. w." "bill" phillips, mbe (18 november 1914 – 4 march 1975) was a new zealand economist. he was a professor of economics at the london school of economics (lse). his best-known contribution to economics is the phillips curve. it explains the relationship between inflation and unemployment rate in the economy. he first described it in 1958. he also created the moniac hydraulic economics computer in 1949.