Phillips curve

noun

A single-equation empirical model describing a historical inverse relationship between rates of unemployment and corresponding rates of inflation that result within an economy.

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Meanings

nounPhillips curve (plural Phillips curves)

plural Phillips curves

  1. economicsA single-equation empirical model describing a historical inverse relationship between rates of unemployment and corresponding rates of inflation that result within an economy.

    An explanation of stagflation is not an explanation at all unless it includes a general explanation of why a Phillips curve should have this or that slope, and why the curve shifts if it is alleged to shift.

    1982, Mancur Olson, The Rise and Decline of Nations, Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 192

Origin

Named after New Zealand economist William Phillips (1914–1975).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Phillips curve. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Phillips%20curve

MLA

“Phillips curve.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Phillips%20curve. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Phillips curve,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Phillips%20curve.

Source: Phillips curve on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.