This paper argues that, with a flat Phillips curve, welfare can be improved if the Central Bank stabilizes the output gap directly. The pursuit of price stability may, in fact, increase price stickiness, flatten the Phillips curve further, increase the distortions due to sticky prices, and lead...

We illustrate an intuitive channel through which price stickiness limits the ability of a central bank to improve welfare through stabilization policy. If the central bank uses infl ation to obtain information about nominal spending, sticky prices impair the learning ability of the central bank...