7  With respect to the second issue, let us remember that the debate on the flattening of the Phillips curve is in full swing.
There is some evidence of a significant reduction in the slope of the curve compared with estimates relating to the second half of the last century, although not to levels that would result in a complete disconnect.14 The drop in the slope might be linked to the structural changes discussed above, and especially to the wage bargaining process and to the pricing behaviour of firms in globally integrated markets.15 Whatever the underlying reason, if the unemployment and the output gaps have a smaller effect on inflation, preserving price stability may have to hinge strongly on maintaining well-anchored inflation expectations.