U.S. inflation has been low and steady for three decades. This welcome stability is not merely a consequence of good fortune. Shocks that in the past might led to higher trend inflation—like the energy price increases—continue to buffet the economy much as they did in the 1970s and 1980s, when inflation rose to a peacetime record. Rather, it reflects the improved monetary policy of the Federal Reserve, which began acting as an inflation-targeting central bank in the mid-1980s, long before it announced a 2% target for inflation in 2012. As a consequence of the Fed’s sustained efforts, long-run inflation expectations have remained close to 2% for more than 20 years. One result is that temporary disturbances that drive inflation above or below target quickly fade.
This is the optimistic conclusion of the 2017 U.S. Monetary Policy Forum (USMPF) report. Since the adoption of the de facto inflation-targeting regime, one-off shocks have little impact on the inflation trend. Moreover, as many have observed, the relationship between unemployment and inflation—the Phillips curve (see our primer)—is now notably weaker. However, the authors of that earlier report warn that the Phillips curve “flattening” could be a direct consequence of the Fed’s success. Indeed, if inflation were perfectly stable at 2%, we would observe zero correlation between unemployment and inflation! Furthermore, since the sample period from 1984 to 2016 excludes any sustained period of a very tight economywide labor market, it would not be possible to detect an outsized impact, if any, of peristently low unemployment on inflation.
Enter the 2019 USMPF report, which focuses on the possibility that inflation may indeed respond differently when the unemployment rate is very low and projected to remain low for several years (see, for example the FOMC’s latest Summary of Economic Projections). These recent authors do note the reduced impact of unemployment on inflation in recent decades, as well as the reduced impact of inflation shocks on the trend of inflation. However, as they observe, these estimates do not exclude the possibility that prolonged periods of low unemployment could have a disproportionate impact on inflation.
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The design thinking mindset including :
1. Focus on the people: we focus on the human being, build empathu and are mindful when exploring his or her needs.
2. Driven by curiosity: we are curious, open, ask WH question continuously and change the perspective in order to look at things from various sides.
3. Accept complexity: we explore the key to complex systems and accept uncertainty and the fact that complex system problems demand complex solutions.
4. Visualize and show: we use stories, visualizations, and simple language to share our findings with the team or create a clear value preposition for our users.
5. Experiment and iterate: we build and test prototypes iteratively to understand, learn and solve problem in the context of the user.
New mindset, New Paradigm, Better Solutions.
Co-create, grow, and scale: we continuously expand our capabilities to create scalable market opportunities in a digital world and in ecosystem.
With varying mental states: as the situation requires, we combine different approaches with design thinking, data analytics, systems thinking, and lean start-up.
Develop process awareness: we know where we stand in the design thinking process and develop a feeling for the groan zone to change the mindset through facilitation in a targeted way.
Networked collaboration : we collaborate on an ad hoc, agile, and networked basis with T-shaped people, and U shaped teams across departments and companies.
Reflect on actions: we reflect on our ways of thinking, our action and attitude because they had an impact on what we do and on the assumptions, we make.