Christmas Spending
An annual December spending surge on parties, gift-giving and personal travel delivers net social benefits.
Responses
© 2025. Kent A. Clark Center for Global Markets.
14%
12%
0%
10%
14%
36%
14%
Which Famous Economist, 2015 Edition
Would you like to answer the questions posed to the IGM Economic Experts Panel to see which expert is most similar to you? Chris Said, a data scientist at Twitter, created a website that will do this. You can enter your own responses to the questions that we send our panel, and his site will […]
US Interest Rates
This week's IGM Economic Experts Panel statements:
A) The Fed should raise its target interest rate when it meets in mid-December.
B) The Fed should have raised interest rates sooner, rather than leaving them near zero for this long.
A) The Fed should raise its target interest rate when it meets in mid-December.
B) The Fed should have raised interest rates sooner, rather than leaving them near zero for this long.
Quarterly Earnings
This week's IGM Economic Experts Panel statements:
A) Letting publicly traded US 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.
B) A switch from quarterly to annual earnings reports would, on net, benefit shareholders.
A) Letting publicly traded US 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.
B) A switch from quarterly to annual earnings reports would, on net, benefit shareholders.
Standardized Tests
This week's IGM Economic Experts Panel statement:
Comparing their students’ average gains on standardized tests over the school year makes it easier to predict which teachers — all else equal — are more likely to improve their student’s long-term life outcomes.
Comparing their students’ average gains on standardized tests over the school year makes it easier to predict which teachers — all else equal — are more likely to improve their student’s long-term life outcomes.
Poverty and Measurement
This week's IGM Economic Experts Panel statements:
A) The association between health and economic growth in poor countries primarily involves faster growth generating better health, rather than the other way around.
B) The decline in the fraction of people with incomes under, say, $1 per day is a good measure of whether well-being is improving amount low-income populations.
A) The association between health and economic growth in poor countries primarily involves faster growth generating better health, rather than the other way around.
B) The decline in the fraction of people with incomes under, say, $1 per day is a good measure of whether well-being is improving amount low-income populations.
Health Insurance Subsidies
This week’s IGM Economic Experts Panel statements:
A) Expanding health insurance to more people through the ACA’s public subsidies and Medicaid expansion will reduce total healthcare spending in the economy.
B) Expanding health insurance to more people through the ACA’s public subsidies and Medicaid expansion will generate gains in the health and well-being of the newly insured that exceed the costs.
A) Expanding health insurance to more people through the ACA’s public subsidies and Medicaid expansion will reduce total healthcare spending in the economy.
B) Expanding health insurance to more people through the ACA’s public subsidies and Medicaid expansion will generate gains in the health and well-being of the newly insured that exceed the costs.
$15 Minimum Wage
This week’s IGM Economic Experts Panel statements:
A) If the federal minimum wage is raised gradually to $15-per-hour by 2020, the employment rate for low-wage US workers will be substantially lower than it would be under the status quo.
B) Increasing the federal minimum wage gradually to $15-per-hour by 2020 would substantially increase aggregate output in the US economy.
A) If the federal minimum wage is raised gradually to $15-per-hour by 2020, the employment rate for low-wage US workers will be substantially lower than it would be under the status quo.
B) Increasing the federal minimum wage gradually to $15-per-hour by 2020 would substantially increase aggregate output in the US economy.
Greece’s Referendum
This week’s IGM Economic Experts Panel statement:
The median Greek citizen will be better off if there is a “yes” vote in the July 5 referendum on whether to accept the terms of the bailout package offered by Greece's creditors.
The median Greek citizen will be better off if there is a “yes” vote in the July 5 referendum on whether to accept the terms of the bailout package offered by Greece's creditors.
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