European Economic Experts Panel

The Clark Center for Global Markets explores economists’ views on vital policy issues via our US and European Economic Experts Panels. We regularly poll over 80 economists on a range of timely and relevant topics. Panelists not only have the opportunity to respond to a poll’s statements, but an opportunity to comment and provide additional resources, if they wish. The Clark Center then shares the results with the public in a straightforward and concise format.

Please note that from September 2022, the language in our polls will use just two modifiers to refer to the size of an effect:

‘Substantial’: when an effect is large enough that it would make a difference that matters for the behavior involved.
‘Measurable’: when the direction of the effect is clear, but perhaps experts would differ as to whether it is substantial.

Antitrust and International Competition

Europe

Antitrust and International Competition

The European Union often uses its antitrust powers to protect EU-based firms from international competition, rather than to promote greater competition in European markets.

Responses

Source: European Clark Center Economic Experts Panel
Methodology

Business, Management, & Corporate Performance

May 11, 2018

China-Europe Trade

Europe

China-Europe Trade

Question A:

Trade with China makes most Europeans better off because, among other advantages, they can buy goods that are made or assembled more cheaply in China.

Responses

Source: European Clark Center Economic Experts Panel
Methodology

Question B:

Some Europeans who work in the production of competing goods, such as clothing and furniture, are made worse off by trade with China.

Responses

Source: European Clark Center Economic Experts Panel
Methodology

Question C:

If the EU followed the new US steel tariffs by imposing similar EU tariffs on steel from China, it would improve Europeans’ welfare.

Responses

Source: European Clark Center Economic Experts Panel
Methodology

Clark Center Economic Experts Panel

April 12, 2018

Greece

Europe

Greece

This week's IGM European Economic Experts Panel Statements:

A) Assuming it exits its third bailout program this summer without an immediate restructuring or other debt relief, Greece is unlikely to default on its sovereign debt in the coming decade.

B) Greece would be better off if it had decided to exit the euro between 2011 and 2015.

C) If Greece had defaulted on (or restructured) its private debt in 2010, while also staying within the euro, that combination would have been better for Greece than either exiting the euro or proceeding as it has actually done.

Clark Center Economic Experts Panel

March 23, 2018

Bitcoins

Europe

Bitcoins

This week's IGM European Economic Experts Panel Statements:

A) Bitcoins are more similar to gold than they are to currency.

B) Bitcoins are more similar to gold than they are to Dutch tulips in the 1630s.

Business Cycles, Recessions, & Crises

March 9, 2018

US Healthcare: Prices vs Quantity and Quality

Europe

US Healthcare: Prices vs Quantity and Quality

This week's IGM European Experts Panel statement:

The US spends roughly 17% of GDP on healthcare, according to the OECD; most European countries spend less than 12% of GDP.

Higher quality-adjusted US healthcare prices contribute relatively more to the extra US spending than does the combination of higher quantity and quality of US care (interpreting quantity and quality to reflect both greater American healthcare needs due to underlying population health and the delivery of more or better healthcare services to Americans).

Clark Center Economic Experts Panel

February 15, 2018

Immigration and Innovation

Europe

Immigration and Innovation

This week's IGM European Economic Experts Panel Statement:

Over the past two years, all else equal, the appeal of the US as a destination for immigrants has changed in ways that will likely decrease innovation in the US economy.

Clark Center Economic Experts Panel

January 25, 2018

Corporate Tax-Rate Harmonization

Europe

Corporate Tax-Rate Harmonization

This week's IGM European Economic Experts Panel statements:

A) Holding other policies fixed, the average European would be better off if every European country taxed corporate profits at a rate of 20% (based as closely as possible on a common definition of profits).

B) If other policies were held fixed and every European country taxed corporate profits at a common rate of 20%, then reducing that common rate substantially below 20% would make the average European better off.

Business, Management, & Corporate Performance

December 20, 2017

Board Quotas for Women

Europe

Board Quotas for Women

This week's IGM European Experts Panel statements:

A) All else equal, if corporations throughout Europe set quotas for a minimum number of women board members, the shareholder value of European companies would increase.

B) Taking into account the likely effects on investments in human capital by men and women, setting quotas throughout Europe for a minimum number of women board members would generate substantial net benefits for Europeans.

Business, Management, & Corporate Performance

November 28, 2017

Energy Sources

Europe

Energy Sources

This week's IGM European Economic Experts Panel statements:

A) Subsidizing renewable energy sources is better than taxing fossil fuels, assuming the subsidy or tax would be set at levels that would reduce carbon emissions by an equivalent amount.

B) Germany’s solar-energy subsidies to date have produced net social benefits for Germany.

C) Solar-energy subsidies to date in Germany and other countries have produced net social benefits for the world.

Clark Center Economic Experts Panel

November 9, 2017

Behavioral Economics

Europe

Behavioral Economics

This week's IGM European Economic Experts Panel statement:

Insights from psychology about individual behavior – examples of which include limited rationality, low self-control, or a taste for fairness – predict several important types of observed market outcomes that fully-rational economic models do not.

Clark Center Economic Experts Panel

October 19, 2017