Essay

Analyzing Shifts in Labor Market Equilibrium

Consider an economy initially at a stable equilibrium, with the real wage and unemployment rate determined by the intersection of a wage-setting (WS) curve and a price-setting (PS) curve. Analyze and contrast the effects of the following two separate, independent events on the equilibrium real wage and the natural rate of unemployment:

  1. A government policy that substantially increases the generosity and duration of unemployment benefits.
  2. A new technology that significantly boosts labor productivity across all firms in the economy.

For each event, you must identify which curve (WS or PS) shifts, explain the economic reasoning for the direction of the shift, and describe the resulting change in the equilibrium real wage and unemployment rate.

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Updated 2025-10-03

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