By Popularity

This US survey examines (a) Independent of any other cuts to public funding of scientific research, a 55% reduction in the budget for the National Science Foundation would have no measurable effect on the well-being of the typical American over the next 10 years; (b) Historical federal support for scientific research has paid for itself through a substantial positive effect on long-run US productivity growth

This week’s IGM Economic Experts Panel poll statement:

Local ordinances that limit rent increases for some rental housing units, such as in New York and San Francisco, have had a positive impact over the past three decades on the amount and quality of broadly affordable rental housing in cities that have used them.

This European survey examines (a) In a world in which most economic powers have programmes that give preference to their own strategic resources – for example, the Chinese have ‘Made in China’, and the Americans have ‘Buy American’ – the EU’s strategic independence would be substantially enhanced by establishing some form of European preference in public procurement in selected sectors; (b) A ‘Buy European’ programme of public procurement in selected sectors could be implemented in a way that would deliver greater EU innovation and growth over the next five years than in the absence of such a programme

This Finance survey examines: Nasdaq has been consulting on inclusion of the largest companies in its indexes: https://indexes.nasdaqomx.com/docs/NDX_Consultation-February_2026.pdf; (a) Changing the rules for index inclusion to allow fast-track entry by extremely large IPOs (including waiving the free float requirement) is consistent with the objectives of passive index-based investing; (b) Changing the rules for index inclusion to allow fast-track entry by extremely large IPOs (including waiving the free float requirement) will make index fund investors measurably better off

This US survey examines (a) The 60-day waiver of the Jones Act (which requires that cargo moved between domestic ports is carried on US vessels) will deliver substantially lower average US gas prices at the pump than otherwise over the next two months; (b) Permanent repeal of the Jones Act would have a measurably bigger impact in lowering average US gas prices at the pump than a temporary suspension; (c) Any national security benefits from the Jones Act are more than offset by its negative economic effects

This US survey examines: Adoption of artificial intelligence will lead to a substantial increase in the growth rates of real per capita income in the US and Western Europe over the next ten years

This US survey examines (a) The release of strategic oil reserves announced by the International Energy Agency will deliver substantially lower US gasoline prices at the pump over the next six months than would otherwise have been the case; (b) Assuming that world oil prices over the next six months continue to be elevated and volatile, temporarily suspending the federal gasoline tax would deliver substantially lower gas prices at the pump than otherwise over that period; (c) A temporary cap on US gasoline prices would substantially lower prices at the pump over the next six months without creating scarcity

‘Modern monetary theory’ (MMT) – the idea that a country that is able to borrow in its own currency need not worry about government deficits and debt – has been all over the economics and finance media in recent weeks. This approach to macroeconomics, which has been used to underpin calls for new public spending programs, has been debated widely in newspaper columns, blog posts and tweets – often in quite vitriolic ways.

This US survey examines (a) Restrictions on large institutional investors buying single-family homes would measurably improve the affordability of home ownership; (b) Having the government-sponsored housing agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy $200 billion in mortgage-backed securities would measurably improve the affordability of home ownership

This week’s IGM Economic Experts Panel poll statements:

A) Freer trade improves productive efficiency and offers consumers better choices, and in the long run these gains are much larger than any effects on employment.

B) On average, citizens of the U.S. have been better off with the North American Free Trade Agreement than they would have been if the trade rules for the U.S., Canada and Mexico prior to NAFTA had remained in place.

Shifting the burden of municipal property taxes towards land and away from improvements such as buildings – as proposed in the Detroit land value tax plan – will enhance the incentives for owners to develop their land and thereby give a substantial boost to local economic growth over a ten-year horizon.

This Finance survey examines: Some major private credit funds – including those offered by BlackRock, Cliffwater and Morgan Stanley – have maintained their redemption limits, not fully filling all investor requests; (a) The enforcement of restrictions on withdrawals from private credit funds predicts that the funds will substantially underperform indices of liquid high-yield corporate bonds over the next 18 months; (b) Assets in the private credit funds that are restricting withdrawals are substantially overvalued relative to their true market value

This US survey examines (a) Freezing the rents paid by tenants of all rent-stabilized apartments in New York for four years would substantially improve the availability of affordable housing for low- and middle-income households; (b) Freezing the rents paid by tenants of all rent-stabilized apartments in New York for four years would be a substantial deterrent to private housing investment in the city; (c) Loosening land-use regulations and other regulation-related constraints on construction in New York (with no rent freeze) would be a substantial boost to private housing investment in the city over the next ten years

This European survey examines (a) The release of strategic oil reserves announced by the International Energy Agency will deliver substantially lower prices for vehicle fuels over the next six months than would otherwise have been the case; b) Assuming that world commodity prices over the next six months continue to be elevated and volatile, temporarily subsidising or capping natural gas prices would be an effective way to protect European households and businesses from high energy bills; (c) The vulnerability of the European economy to high and volatile fossil fuel prices indicates the need for stronger incentives to promote decarbonisation rather than rowing back on policy support for the energy transition

This US survey examines (a) Without extension of the expanded public subsidies for Affordable Care Act healthcare plans, there would be a substantial rise in the number of Americans without health insurance; (b) Losses in the health and well-being of Americans who could no longer afford health insurance in the absence of the subsidies would exceed the savings from the expiration; (c) The possible need for subsidies substantially in excess of those initially provided by the ACA indicates that other changes in the healthcare system are needed to enable broad-based access

This US survey examines: (a) Capping annual rent increases by corporate landlords at 5%, as proposed by President Biden, would make middle-income Americans substantially better off over the next ten years; (b) Capping annual rent increases at 5%, as proposed by President Biden, would substantially reduce the amount of available apartments for rent over the next ten years; (c) Capping annual rent increases at 5%, as proposed by President Biden, would substantially reduce US income inequality over the next ten years

This US survey examines (a) Tripling existing import taxes on Chinese steel and aluminum products would lead to measurably higher employment in the US steel industry over the next five years; (b) Tripling the tariffs would lead to measurably higher steel and aluminum prices for American producers and measurably higher finished-good prices for American consumers; (c) The gains for the American economy from tripling the tariffs would measurably outweigh the losses.

This week’s IGM Economic Experts Panel statements:

A: The average US citizen would be better off if a larger number of low-skilled foreign workers were legally allowed to enter the US each year.

B: Unless they were compensated by others, many low-skilled American workers would be substantially worse off if a larger number of low-skilled foreign workers were legally allowed to enter the US each year.