Unlike the case of an inflationary gap, a recessionary gap requires falling prices and wages for the economy to self-correct. Wages, the price of labor, have a downward rigidity that prevents rapid decreases necessary to reach a new level of equilibrium price level. If money wages do not fall, the aggregate supply curve will not shift outward. Although self-correction is inevitable, it may take so long that citizens and policy makers may lose patience and promote active stabilization policy measures.