That is the very reason why we are interested in measuring these rigidities, in understanding their nature and in assessing their welfare implications. This knowledge may eventually result in formulating deliberate policy recommendations for structural reforms in view of reducing rigidities in price and wage setting, to the extent that this is desirable from a welfare perspective.
One answer is that the literature had been overly influenced by the poor inflationary record in Latin America in the 1980s, and as the better record in Latin America in the 1990s became clearer, commentators and analysis came to recognise the benefits of an inflation targeting framework.