Question A: The EU's rules on corporate mergers have been a substantial constraint on productivity growth in Europe.

Question B: Loosening the EU’s rules on corporate mergers would provide a substantial boost to the emergence of European champions able to compete effectively in the global economy.

Question C: In terms of promoting stronger European economic growth, looser merger rules would be substantially less effective than completing the single market, including the creation of a ‘28th regime’ of corporate rules.

Question A: In a world in which most economic powers have programmes that give preference to their own strategic resources – for example, the Chinese have ‘Made in China’, and the Americans have ‘Buy American’ – the EU’s strategic independence would be substantially enhanced by establishing some form of European preference in public procurement in selected sectors.

Question B: A ‘Buy European’ programme of public procurement in selected sectors could be implemented in a way that would deliver greater EU innovation and growth over the next five years than in the absence of such a programme.

Question A: The release of strategic oil reserves announced by the International Energy Agency will deliver substantially lower prices for vehicle fuels over the next six months than would otherwise have been the case.

Question B: Assuming that world commodity prices over the next six months continue to be elevated and volatile, temporarily subsidising or capping natural gas prices would be an effective way to protect European households and businesses from high energy bills.

Question C: The vulnerability of the European economy to high and volatile fossil fuel prices indicates the need for stronger incentives to promote decarbonisation rather than rowing back on policy support for the energy transition.

Question A: US regulation of greenhouse gases – including carbon dioxide from motor vehicles and power plants, and methane from oil and gas wells – rests on the Clean Air Act. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced its rescission of the greenhouse gas endangerment finding and motor vehicle greenhouse gas emission standards: https://www.epa.gov/regulations-emissions-vehicles-and-engines/final-rule-rescission-greenhouse-gas-endangerment. The President of the National Academy of Sciences subsequently wrote to the organization's members, noting that 'the EPA justified its decision on legal, economic, and regulatory opinions, and not on the science’.

The weight of economic analysis and evidence supports the conclusion that some form of regulation of greenhouse gas emissions is warranted.

Question B: For US consumers and firms, the health and environmental benefits of greenhouse gas emission standards outweigh the costs, making the EPA rescission substantially net negative for American society.

Question C: Since the environmental costs of greenhouse gas emissions are globally distributed, some form of collective international regulation is warranted.

Question A: Without a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC), Europe risks a further loss of control over its monetary system to foreign payment service providers, including US Big Tech platforms and US stablecoin issuers.

Question B: Without a credible, modern wholesale settlement solution in central bank money - whether via a wholesale CBDC or equivalent infrastructure - Europe risks a further erosion of payments autonomy.

Question A: The US intervention in Venezuela will have no measurable impact on the world oil price over the next 12 months.

Question B: The US intervention will lead to a substantial increase in the profitability of US energy companies over the next five years.

Question C: The US intervention will lead to a substantial increase in economic growth in Venezuela over the next five years.

Question A: The potential for consumer privacy to be compromised by digital platforms’ use of personal data is sufficient to justify regulations that assign consumers some kind of default control rights over their data.

Question B: To date, EU efforts to regulate use of personal data - primarily the General Data Protection Regulation, GDPR - have been largely ineffective at protecting consumers.

Question C: To date, EU efforts to regulate use of personal data - primarily GDPR - have imposed substantial costs on European businesses, slowing innovation and growth.

Question A: Adoption of artificial intelligence will lead to a substantial increase in the growth rates of real per capita income in the US and Western Europe over the next ten years.

Question B: Adoption of artificial intelligence will lead to a substantial increase in the unemployment rates in the US and Western Europe over the next ten years.

Question A: For reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, subsidies for R&D on low-carbon technologies are justified in addition to carbon pricing mechanisms like carbon taxes and cap-and-trade systems.

Question B: Higher subsidies for R&D on low-carbon technologies are justified by the fact that their successful deployment would not only reduce emissions in OECD countries but also reduce developing countries' emissions by encouraging them to substitute away from fossil fuels.