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

Fiscal Cliff

If the fiscal changes that are planned under current US law take place next year — including Bush era tax cuts expiring, Medicare payment rates to doctors being cut, the AMT applying to many more taxpayers, and automatic cuts in defense and non-defense discretionary spending kicking in — then US real GDP growth in 2013 will be lower than it would be under the CBO's alternative fiscal scenario, in which the above changes do not occur.

Responses

© 2025. Kent A. Clark Center for Global Markets.
15%
3%
0%
3%
8%
43%
30%
Source: Clark Center Economic Experts Panel
Methodology
 
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Clark Center Economic Experts Panel
Bloomberg

Stress Tests Don’t Have to Cause a Run on Banks

By Haresh Sapra U.S. and European banking regulators are conducting stress tests to determine whether financial institutions have enough capital to sustain losses as a result of adverse economic conditions. A critical question is whether these results should be made public, and if so, at what level of detail. Read article> 
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Bloomberg
Bloomberg

Let Data, Not Politics, Guide Regulation

by Tobias J. Moskowitz Several years after the global financial crisis, the fierce debate over regulation continues to be driven by strong beliefs — largely uninformed ones — rather than hard facts. Some believe more regulation is necessary, others that it would cause the downfall of our markets. No one, however, seems to be talking […] 
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Bloomberg
Bloomberg

Successful Leaders Must Learn to Act Many Parts

by Harry L. Davis Much has been written about the qualities of successful leaders. These attributes often seem to float above any specific context, in the same way that a consumer’s preference expressed in a focus group is assumed to be equally present when that person is shopping in a grocery store or preparing a […] 
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Bloomberg
US

French Labor Policies

This week’s IGM Economic Experts Panel poll statements:

A) Reducing the minimum retirement age in France from 62 back to age 60, permanently, would reduce long-term French economic growth and substantially raise French debt relative to GDP over time.

B) France’s overall employment is higher today because of the 35 hour work week than it would be without a limit on weekly hours. 
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Clark Center Economic Experts Panel
Bloomberg

Mark-to-Market Accounts Signal Caution for Investors

by Ray Ball Mark-to-market accounting has long been viewed in academia as the gold standard for preparing financial statements. The rule makers, the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board, are coming to the same view. Yet shifting to those norms has some adverse consequences for investors. Read article> 
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Bloomberg
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