Stagflation
A painful mix of stagnant growth or high unemployment with high inflation—challenging simple Keynesian and Phillips-curve intuitions.
Stagflation roiled the 1970s after oil shocks and loose expectations collided. Policymakers learned that demand stimulus could worsen inflation without curing unemployment.
The experience empowered monetarist critiques and tighter central-bank mandates focused on price stability.
Energy and supply shocks
Supply disruptions can raise prices while depressing output—the recipe for stagflation. That logic links this entry to energy episodes and to modern debates about global bottlenecks.