Question A: The increasing share of income and wealth among the richest people in a number of advanced countries is giving significantly more political power to the wealthy.

Question B: The increasing share of income and wealth among the richest people in a number of advanced countries is having a significantly negative effect on intergenerational social mobility.

Question C: The increasing share of income and wealth among the richest people in a number of advanced countries is a major threat to capitalism.

Question A: A windfall tax on the excess profits of large oil and gas companies – with the revenue rebated to households – would be an efficient way to provide temporary relief for the average household in European countries from rising energy costs.

Question B: Fiscal measures putting a cap on consumer energy prices would be a more appropriate immediate response to increased inflation in the euro area than raising interest rates.

Stablecoins that are not fully backed by either central bank reserves or government securities with minimal price volatility are inherently vulnerable to runs.

High tariffs imposed by the European Union on imports of Russian natural gas would be an effective measure to reduce the flow of revenues to Russia while limiting disruption to supplies to Europe.

Rather than using second-round runoffs to settle elections in which no candidate wins a first-round majority, the overall preferences of the electorate would be better reflected by using a single round with ranked-choice voting, in which voters are instructed to rank all of the candidates.

Question A:

Rising energy prices suggest that the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve will have to increase interest rates faster than they intended to before the invasion.

Question B: Increased public spending by European countries to accommodate larger defense budgets, migration inflows and accelerated investment in alternative energy sources would be better financed mostly through taxes, rather than debt.

Question C: Economic damage from the shock to global commodity markets will fall disproportionately hard on low- and middle-income countries.

Question A:

The fallout from the Russian invasion of Ukraine will be stagflationary in that it will noticeably reduce global growth and raise global inflation over the next year.

Question B: The economic and financial sanctions already implemented will lead to a deep recession in Russia.

Question C: Targeting the Russian economy through a total ban on oil and gas imports carries a high risk of recession in European economies.

Question D: Weaponizing dollar finance is likely to lead to a significant shift away from the dollar as the dominant international currency.

Question A:

High volatility in the prices of crypto assets such as Bitcoin, Dogecoin, and Ethereum largely reflects movements in investor sentiment rather than news about potential sources of fundamental value (such as possible applications, or use in illicit transactions).

Question B: Given existing regulation of the financial system, as crypto assets grow in value and become more connected to the rest of the system, the fluctuations in their valuations will pose a serious risk to financial stability in advanced economies.

Question C: Private unbacked crypto assets serve no important economic purpose.

Question A:

Firms’ incentives to reduce costs by sourcing inputs and products abroad have caused many European industries to become more vulnerable to supply chain disruptions.

Question B: Private firms have inadequate incentives to make investments to reduce the risk that disruptions in the supply of imports will cause shortages and raise domestic prices.

Question C: Prioritisation of efficiency over resilience in global supply chains makes current disruptions likely to continue beyond 2022.

Question A:

Given the centrality of semiconductors to the manufacturing of many products, securing reliable supplies should be a key strategic objective of EU and national policy.

Question B: Europe’s small role in global semiconductor production is a direct result of insufficient private investment in high-tech innovation.

Question C: Public support at EU and national level for investment along the value chain for semiconductors, including production, would be the most effective way to ensure security of supply.

Question A:

Even without renewed Covid-19 restrictions, uncertainty about the health threat from the Omicron variant is likely to deliver a significant hit to economic activity from now through the first half of 2022.

Question B: If world vaccine supply continues to be limited, global social welfare would rise by more if those vaccines were made widely available across Africa (with support for effective delivery) rather than accelerating booster vaccinations in rich countries.

Question C: Imposing travel bans on countries where new Covid-19 variants are discovered will make it less likely that countries will reveal new variants to the rest of the world.

Question A: Voluntary national targets are unlikely to be an effective mechanism for achieving sharp reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

Question B: Agreement on a significant global price floor for all carbon emissions would be an effective step towards achieving sharp reductions in emissions.

Question C: Green innovation in the private sector would be strongly stimulated by a substantial increase in public spending on R&D for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Question A: The introduction of natural experiments to economic analysis of the labor market and related areas has led to a more precise understanding of cause and effect.

Question B: The ‘credibility revolution’ in empirical economics has improved our understanding of a number of public policy issues, including education, immigration and the minimum wage.

Question C: In pursuit of credible research designs, researchers often seek good answers instead of good questions.

Question A: A mandate for public companies to provide climate-related disclosures (such as their greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint) would provide financially material information that enables investors to make better decisions.

Question B: A mandate for public companies to provide climate-related disclosures would induce them to reduce their climate impact significantly.

Question A: The current combination of US fiscal and monetary policy poses a serious risk of prolonged higher inflation.

Question B: Current EU and national fiscal policy plans are likely to leave European output below potential a year from now.

Question A:

The introduction of even small trade frictions between neighboring countries can result in significant economic damage, particularly to smaller exporting firms.

Question B: A national economic boom based on natural resources is likely to harm other sectors of the economy, particularly manufacturing firms.

Question A: A global minimum corporate tax rate would limit the benefits to companies of shifting profits to low-tax jurisdictions without biasing where they invest.

Question B: An international tax system in which the major advanced economies set a minimum rate on corporate income is achievable.

Question C: A global corporate tax system that is based on the location of final consumers would be more efficient than one based on the location of corporate headquarters and production facilities.

Question A: Under a fixed exchange rate and fully liberalized capital flows, a country loses domestic control of monetary policy.

Question B: For emerging and developing economies open to the world capital market, a flexible exchange rate confers little advantage over a pegged exchange rate in terms of economic stability.

Question C: The key feature making the US a more natural optimum currency area than the euro area is higher labor mobility.

Question A: Reliable Covid-19 vaccines will reach developing countries more quickly if the rich countries pay the pharmaceutical companies at prevailing prices to manufacture and distribute the vaccines (or to license production and support licensees), rather than waiving patent protection.

Question B: The benefits to the US, Canada, Europe, Japan and other rich countries of paying for 12 billion doses of Covid vaccines at prevailing prices and providing them for free to the rest of the world exceed the costs that the rich countries would incur.

Question A: The Bank for International Settlements defines a central bank digital currency as follows: ‘In simple terms, a central bank digital currency (CBDC) would be a digital banknote. It could be used by individuals to pay businesses, shops or each other (a 'retail CBDC'), or between financial institutions to settle trades in financial markets (a ‘wholesale CBDC').

For developed countries, a central bank digital currency that is available to the public at large would offer social benefits that exceed the associated costs or risks.

Question B: Central banks that do not introduce their own digital money risk losing the ability to conduct effective monetary policy.

Question C: The introduction of a central bank digital currency is unlikely to have major effects on the economy.

Question A: Removing intellectual property protections on Covid-19 vaccines would substantially improve availability of the vaccines in developing countries.

Question B: Removing intellectual property protections on Covid-19 vaccines would have a negative impact on vaccine development efforts for future variants of SARS-CoV-2 or for the next pandemic.

Question C: Without an international agreement that facilitates vaccine trade, countries’ incentives to limit exports of vaccines and/or key production inputs are likely to prolong the adverse effects of the pandemic in advanced countries.

Question A: Allowing short selling of financial securities, such as stocks and government bonds, leads to prices that, on average, are closer to their fundamental values.

Question B: Requiring investors to disclose short positions in a stock at the equivalent threshold as they are required to do for long positions would result in significantly less short selling.

Question C: Regulatory restrictions on short selling - such as no naked shorts, temporary bans in times of crisis - make it difficult for optimists and pessimists to have equal influence on asset prices.

Question A: EU Covid-19 vaccination efforts are significantly behind those of Israel, Serbia, the UK and the US.

Offering substantially higher prices per dose would have resulted in larger capacity investments by vaccine makers and accelerated distribution in Europe significantly.

Question B: In the current situation, paying for more production capacity would be better than offering higher prices for vaccines.

Question C: If the EU started paying prices above 100 euros per dose, it would on net reduce the cost of the pandemic to the EU via more lives saved and shorter lockdowns.

Question A: Policies that aim to reduce obesity by increasing incentives for physical activity would be more welfare-improving than policies that increase the financial costs of consuming calories.

Question B: A ban on advertising junk foods (those that are high in sugar, salt and fat) would be an effective policy to reduce child obesity.

Question C: Setting targets for schools to reduce obesity (e.g. by diverting financial resources to improve school meals or add cookery to the curriculum) would reduce social welfare because schools in deprived areas, where obesity is higher, are already struggling to deliver the core curriculum.

Question A: The current US federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. States can choose whether to have a higher minimum - and many do.

A federal minimum wage of $15 per hour would lower employment for low-wage workers in many states.

Question B: A federal minimum wage that is pegged to state and/or local conditions such as the cost of living would be preferable to the current arrangements that give states a role in setting the policy.

Question A: The UK economy is likely to be at least several percentage points smaller in 2030 than it would have been if the country had remained in the European Union.

Question B: The aggregate economy of the 27 countries still in the EU is likely to be at least several percentage points smaller in 2030 than if the UK had not left.

Requiring Facebook to divest WhatsApp and Instagram is likely to make society better off.

Question A: Our understanding of labor productivity has been much enhanced by accounting for monetary and promotion-based incentives within firms and related selection effects.

Question B: Large salaries for senior business executives are less a reflection of an individual’s current contribution to a firm’s overall performance than a ‘prize’ for those who put in the effort to achieve one of the top positions.

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

Question 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.

Question 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.

Question A: Google's dominance of the market for internet search arose mainly from a combination of economies of scale and a quality algorithm.

Question B: In light of Google’s dominance, its current operating practices could have a substantial negative effect on social welfare in the long run.

Question C: The nature of the market dominance of technology giants in the digital economy warrants either the imposition of some kind of regulation or a fundamental change in antitrust policy.

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.

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

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

Question B:

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

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

Question 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.

Question 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.

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

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

Question A: Given the social and regulatory pressures to keep prices down for drugs and vaccines to treat Covid-19, the financial incentives for pharmaceutical companies to invest in such products are below the value of the investment to society.

Question B: Government commitments to pay developers and manufacturers above average costs for an effective vaccine or drug treatments for Covid-19 would accelerate production.

Question C: Given the positive externalities from vaccination, an effective Covid-19 vaccine should have priority in public healthcare funding even in countries where other diseases cause more death and disability.

Question A: Political conflict plays a key role in shaping economic decisions, policies and outcomes.

Question B: Most European countries have larger social welfare systems than the United States in part because the latter is more heterogeneous by race and ethnicity.

Question A: Clearing the market for surgical face masks using prices is detrimental to the public good.

Question B: Laws to prevent high prices for essential goods in short supply in a crisis would raise social welfare.

Question C: Governments should buy essential medical supplies at what would have been the market price and redistribute according to need rather than ability to pay.

Question A: Economic damage from the virus and lockdowns will ultimately fall disproportionately hard on low- and middle-income countries.

Question B: A temporary standstill on sovereign debt payments by low- and middle-income countries to all official and private creditors to give those countries space to cover the immediate costs of the crisis would benefit advanced economies.

Question C: Export restrictions on food and medical supplies, and other protectionist measures, are likely to cost lives and slow economic recovery in all countries.

Question A: Government support to private firms in the form of debt (either directly or with the help of public guarantees) is desirable, but risks leaving them with too much leverage to invest and grow in the future.

Question B: Providing funds to viable businesses in the form of equity injections is a vital complement to debt support.

Question C: With the EU ban on state aid suspended, government capital injections should be provided via a newly created pan-European equity fund, rather than be left to national governments acting independently.

Question A:

Even with the support policies implemented by European governments in response to the crisis, low-income workers will suffer a relatively bigger hit to their incomes than those further up the distribution.

Question B: With schools across Europe closed in the lockdown, existing gaps in access to quality education between high- and low-income households will be exacerbated.

Question C: Combating the effects of the pandemic on inequality should be a priority for policy interventions.

Question A: Severe lockdowns – including closing non-essential businesses and strict limitations on people’s movement – are likely to be better for the economy in the medium term than less aggressive measures.

Question B: While national governments have responded to the crisis with substantial economic policy measures, a joint euro area fiscal response is still highly desirable.

Question C: Given the willingness of the European Central Bank to buy sovereign bonds, including Italian bonds, without limits, there is no need for ‘coronabonds’.

Question A: Even if the mortality of COVID-19 proves to be limited (similar to the number of flu deaths in a regular season), it is likely to cause a major recession.

Question B: The economic effects of COVID-19 coming from reduced spending will be larger than those coming from disruptions to supply chains and illness-related workforce reductions.

Question C: The economic policy institutions of the Eurozone are well equipped to ameliorate the potential economic damage from COVID-19.

Question A: Germany's current account surplus is undesirable even from a purely German viewpoint: the country would be better off if, for example, it ran a smaller primary surplus, in turn leading to a smaller current account surplus.

Question B: The Eurozone would be in better shape if fiscal policy were more expansionary, which would allow monetary policy to be slightly less so.

Question C: If there is a recession in the Eurozone, it will be essential to have a coordinated fiscal expansion.

Question A: The European Union goal of reaching net zero emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050 will be a major drag on economic growth.

Question B: Carbon taxes are a better way to implement climate policy than cap-and-trade.

Question C: A carbon border tax targeting imports from non-EU countries with less strict climate policies is likely to harm developing economies.

Question A: Following the UK election result, the certainty that the country is going to leave the European Union will provide a substantial short-term boost to the UK economy.

Question B: Given that the transition period currently expires at the end of 2020, there is still a considerable risk that the UK will leave the European Union without a trade agreement.

Question C: Leaving the European Union without a trade agreement would have a large negative impact on the UK economy.

Question A: Under current policies on climate change, the associated physical risks (such as those arising from total seasonal rainfall and sea level changes, and increased frequency, severity, and correlation of extreme weather events) will be at most a very small factor in monetary policy decisions over the next decade.

Question B: The physical risks associated with climate change under current policies are likely to threaten financial stability over the next decade.

Question A: Europeans would benefit more from an extra €1 billion of public R&D spent through existing (public) channels than from an extra €1 billion of private R&D spent through existing (private) channels, all else equal.

Question B: Europeans would benefit more from an extra €1 billion of public medical research spent through existing (public) channels than from an extra €1 billion of private medical research spent through existing (private) channels, all else equal.

Question A: Randomized control trials are a valuable tool for answering some long unsettled questions in development economics research.

Question B: Randomized control trials are a valuable tool for making significant progress in poverty reduction.

Question A: Having companies run to maximize shareholder value creates significant negative externalities for workers and communities.

Question B: Appropriately managed corporations could create significantly greater value than they currently do for a range of stakeholders – including workers, suppliers, customers and community members – with small impacts on shareholder value.

Question C:

Effective mechanisms for boards of directors to ensure that CEOs act in ways that balance the interests of all stakeholders would be straightforward to introduce.

Question A:

Rising inequality is straining the health of liberal democracy.

Question B: Enacting more redistributive expenditures and policies would be likely to limit the rise of populism in Europe.

Question C: European governments should allocate more resources to policies that would be likely to limit the rise of populism in Europe, even if it means higher public debt or lower public spending in other areas.

Question A:

At this point, there is little that the European Central Bank can do to increase or maintain output in the Eurozone.

Question B: When the economy is operating below its potential, larger fiscal deficits are likely to increase demand and output.

Question C: When the economy is operating below its potential and monetary policy is at the effective lower bound, fiscal policy should prioritize increasing output over decreasing public debt.

Question A:

Selecting candidates for membership of the ECB Executive Board based primarily on nationality ahead of competence is likely to have a negative effect on the quality of monetary policy in the Eurozone.

Question B: Although the central bank can never be an entirely technocratic institution, the selection process for the ECB President and members of the Executive Board is significantly worsened by intergovernmental trade-offs involving appointments to other European institutions.

On bids for infrastructure projects, the average European would be better off if Europe’s governments favored European firms over Chinese firms (or firms from any other country with non-profit-related geopolitical strategies) — even if it means sometimes choosing a higher-cost bidder.

Question A: Breaking the “doom loop” — a negative spiral that can result when banks hold sovereign bonds and governments bail out banks — would increase the stability of European economies in the event of another financial crisis.

Question B: Regulators should try to break the doom loop by assigning positive risk weights — in calculating banks’ capital requirements — to banks’ holdings of domestic and other Eurozone sovereign bonds.

Question C: Breaking the doom loop would impose substantial costs on powerful political constituencies.

Residents of big European cities would be better off, on balance, if governments did more to counter gentrification, for example by using rent and other housing subsidies, public housing investments, zoning regulations, or similar policies.

Question A: A common European deposit insurance scheme, once fully implemented, would increase the stability of European economies in the event of another financial crisis.

Question B: A common European deposit insurance scheme, once fully implemented, would increase the likelihood of another financial crisis in Europe.

Question A: Overall, public spending on the arts in Europe creates benefits that exceed the deadweight loss caused by taxation to fund it.

Question B: Additional public spending on the arts in Europe would create incremental benefits that exceed the deadweight loss caused by taxation to fund it.

Question A: The average European is better off if Europe’s competition authorities let firms merge into European champions in their sectors, even it weakens competition.

Question B: If China and other countries use policies that create giant international firms, then the average European is better off if Europe's competition authorities let firms merge into European champions in their sectors, even it weakens competition.

Question A: Letting publicly traded European firms report earnings annually rather than quarterly would lead their executives to place more weight on long-term issues in their investments and other decisions.

Question B: A switch from quarterly to annual earnings reports would, on net, benefit shareholders of European firms.

Question A: To the extent that public corporations pursue social and environmental initiatives, they tend to achieve higher risk-adjusted (private) returns than otherwise similar corporations that pursue such initiatives less.