Clark Center Forum

About the Clark Center Forum

The Forum for the Kent A. Clark Center for Global Markets is home to the European, Finance, and US Economic Experts Panels as well as a repository of thoughtful, current, and reliable information regarding topics of the day.
US

Child Tax Credit

Question A:

A permanent version of the 2021 expansion of the child tax credit would reduce child poverty substantially.

Question B:

The costs of increasing resources for low-income families via the expanded child tax credit would be substantially offset over the longer term by the fiscal benefits of improving life outcomes for children no longer growing up in poverty.

Question C:

Parental labor supply would be unlikely to fall significantly following reintroduction of the expanded child tax credit.

 
US

Working From Home

Question A:

Employees who spend two of their days each week working from home are, on average, likely to be more productive over the longer term.

Question B:

Employees who spend two of their days each week working from home are, on average, likely to report higher levels of job satisfaction over the longer term.

Question C:

Having the opportunity to work two to three days a week from home is, on average, like to be more beneficial for women’s career progression than for that of their male colleagues.

 
Europe

Working From Home

The pandemic has led to a big shift to working from home among people in occupations where it is possible for the jobs or some part of them to be done remotely. There has been much debate about the extent to which such forms of working (or a hybrid model, with some hours done at home and some on business premises) will continue over the longer term. Key questions include the potential impact on employees’ productivity and their job satisfaction, and whether the career trajectories of women and men may be affected differently by a substantial increase in working from home.

 
US

Inflation, Market Power, and Price Controls

With sharply rising US inflation prompting debate about the potential role of powerful firms in driving up prices and whether antitrust interventions and/or price controls may be an effective policy response, we invited our US panel to express their views. We asked the experts whether they agreed or disagreed with the following statements, and, if so, how strongly and with what degree of confidence:

 
US

Omicron

With the emergence of a new strain of the virus that causes Covid-19 re-opening debates about the economic impact of the pandemic, the success of efforts to achieve global distribution of vaccines and the value of travel bans, we invited our panels to express their views on these issues. In early December, we asked the experts whether they agreed or disagreed with the following statements, and, if so, how strongly and with what degree of confidence:

 
Europe

Omicron

With the emergence of a new strain of the virus that causes Covid-19 re-opening debates about the economic impact of the pandemic, the success of efforts to achieve global distribution of vaccines and the value of travel bans, we invited our panels to express their views on these issues. In early December, we asked the experts whether they agreed or disagreed with the following statements, and, if so, how strongly and with what degree of confidence:

 
FT-Booth US Macroeconomists Survey

FTxIGM Survey: Fed Completing ‘Tapering’?

This month’s FTxIGM US Macroeconomists Survey discusses the Fed’s likelihood to “stop bond purchases by the end of March [2022].” The article goes on to look at the economists’ current expectations regarding inflation and employment.  The summary results are below and you can read the Financial Times article here, subscription required. View the results of […] 
US

Inflation

With consumer prices rising at the fastest pace for three decades, we invited our US panel to express their views on the risks of prolonged higher inflation as a result of the current stance of fiscal and monetary policy, as well as the likely impact of an easing of supply bottlenecks. We asked the experts whether they agreed or disagreed with the following statements, and, if so, how strongly and with what degree of confidence:

 

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