European Economic Experts Panel

 

 

The US Federal Trade Commission and 46 states have brought antitrust cases against Facebook, which could potentially require the company to unwind its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. We invited both our US and European panels to express their views on this issue by asking the experts whether they agree or disagree with the following statement, and, if so, how strongly and with what degree of confidence:

 

Edward Lazear passed away in November 2020 at the age of 72, mourned by many in the worlds of economic research and policy-making. Described by two close colleagues and co-authors at Stanford as ‘the first personnel economist’, he was also a founding member of IGM’s US panel and an important contributor to launching our project of polling economics experts on vital policy issues.

 

This week's European Economic Experts Panel statements:

A) A wealth tax would be an effective way to reduce inequality.

B) A wealth tax in a form discussed in the UK (where individuals could be taxed a percentage of their net worth over £750,000, excluding any personal pension savings and their main home) would be an effective way to improve public finances after the Covid-19 crisis.

C) A public policy goal that could be accomplished with a well-enforced wealth tax could be accomplished at lower cost with modifications to existing taxes, such as income tax, capital gains tax, inheritance tax and property tax. 

In October, the US Department of Justice launched a federal antitrust lawsuit against Google, accusing the technology giant of abusing its dominance in the market for internet search. We invited both our US and European panels to express their views on some of the issues surrounding this case. We asked the experts whether they agreed or disagreed with the following statements, and, if so, how strongly and with what degree of confidence:

 

This week's European Economic Experts Panel statement:

The practical application of auction theory to the licensing of rights to use public assets like radiospectrum and other natural resources has generated substantially higher government revenues and better allocative efficiency worldwide than would have happened under previous arrangements. 

This week's European Economic Experts Panel statement:

Strong competition from foreign producers is likely to encourage greater private sector expenditure on research and development in the home market. 

This week's European Economic Experts Panel statements:

A) The ECB should aim to achieve an inflation rate that averages 2% over time.

B) The ECB should take account of the environmental implications of its policy decisions.

C) The objectives set for the ECB by Treaty should make maximum sustainable employment of equal importance as price stability. 

This week’s IGM European Economic Experts Panel statements:

A) Right now, the central focus of fiscal policy should be on temporary measures to provide protection and promote rapid economic recovery rather than trying to advance other objectives, such as reducing debt, tackling climate change or addressing inequality.

B) Cutting taxes on firms (or delaying tax collection) will allow more of them to survive and be more effective than public spending for triggering a rapid economic recovery.

C) European recovery fund disbursements to crisis-hit countries should be primarily in the form of grants rather than loans.

D) European recovery fund disbursements to crisis-hit countries should not be made on condition of commitments to reform by recipients.