British inflation and unemployment in the 1970s: A model-based decomposition

The UKs stagflation in the 1970s is decomposed into its causative factors, using the Liverpool rational expectations model. It is found that there was a large rise in the natural rate of unemployment, mainly due to rising union density; that fiscal and monetary shocks had little effect on the resulting rise in unemployment; and the high inflation of the period was due to persistent and large fiscal deficits, with their accompanying monetization. Mrs Thatcher inherited an inflation induced by an ongoing deficit and a natural rate of over 2 million unemployed.