Question A:
Clearing the market for surgical face masks using prices is detrimental to the public good.
Responses
© 2025. Kent A. Clark Center for Global Markets.
15%
0%
4%
11%
30%
28%
11%
Responses weighted by each expert's confidence
© 2025. Kent A. Clark Center for Global Markets.
7%
11%
30%
34%
17%
Question B:
Laws to prevent high prices for essential goods in short supply in a crisis would raise social welfare.
Responses
© 2025. Kent A. Clark Center for Global Markets.
15%
0%
0%
26%
26%
28%
4%
Responses weighted by each expert's confidence
© 2025. Kent A. Clark Center for Global Markets.
0%
31%
31%
31%
7%
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.
Responses
© 2025. Kent A. Clark Center for Global Markets.
15%
0%
0%
4%
17%
39%
24%
Responses weighted by each expert's confidence
© 2025. Kent A. Clark Center for Global Markets.
0%
5%
17%
45%
34%
Question A Participant Responses
Participant |
University |
Vote |
Confidence |
Bio/Vote History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Franklin Allen |
Imperial College London | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Very thorny question. UK thinking about making "profiteering" illegal. Efficient to raise prices but not equitable.
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 Pol Antras |
Harvard | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Agnès Bénassy-Quéré |
Paris School of Economics | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Wearing a mask = producing a public good. There should be helicopter drops of masks over deprived areas.
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 Olivier Blanchard |
Peterson Institute | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Market clearing will lead the masks to go to those with the highest ability to pay, not the most need.
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 Nicholas Bloom |
Stanford | Bio/Vote History | ||
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This is like war time rationing - face masks should go to those who need them not those who pay most
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 Richard William Blundell |
University College London | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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 Elena Carletti |
Bocconi | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Jean-Pierre Danthine |
Paris School of Economics | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Ultra high prices are not necessary incentives and they are clearly detrimental to the public good.
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 Paul De Grauwe |
LSE | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Jan Eeckhout |
UPF Barcelona | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Ernst Fehr |
Universität Zurich | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Xavier Freixas |
Barcelona GSE | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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 Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln |
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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 Jordi Galí |
Barcelona GSE | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Francesco Giavazzi |
Bocconi | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Rachel Griffith |
University of Manchester | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Veronica Guerrieri |
Chicago Booth | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Luigi Guiso |
Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Patrick Honohan |
Trinity College Dublin | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Mask mainly protects others, not user, so externality very strong
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 Beata Javorcik |
University of Oxford | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Botond Kőszegi |
Central European University | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Jan Pieter Krahnen |
Goethe University Frankfurt | Bio/Vote History | ||
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As there are strong externalities involved, e.g. in hospital personnel, the usual allocational efficiency arguments do not apply fully.
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 Eliana La Ferrara |
Harvard Kennedy | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Christian Leuz |
Chicago Booth | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Thierry Mayer |
Sciences-Po | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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 Costas Meghir |
Yale | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Price caps lead to shortages. The government and international organizations should channel funds to ensure all concerned can afford masks
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 Peter Neary |
Oxford | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Classis results of Weitzman suggest that quantity controls are desirable when marginal benefits are inelastic relative to costs
-see background information here -see background information here |
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 Kevin O'Rourke |
Oxford | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Marco Pagano |
Università di Napoli Federico II | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Just look at what is happening in Italy!
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||||
 Lubos Pastor |
Chicago Booth | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Torsten Persson |
Stockholm University | Bio/Vote History | ||
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The effect on the public good depends a great deal on whether a credible (=enforceable) constraint can be put on face-mask quality.
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||||
 Christopher Pissarides |
London School of Economics and Political Science | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Wearing a mask protects others and people will not pay for this part of the benefit. They should be subsidised
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 Richard Portes |
London Business School | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Canice Prendergast |
Chicago Booth | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Lucrezia Reichlin |
London Business School | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Rafael Repullo |
CEMFI | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 Hélène Rey |
London Business School | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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 Antoinette Schoar |
MIT | Bio/Vote History | ||
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depends on the trade off between short term distributional goals of the current stock versus longer term incentives for production.
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 Daniel Sturm |
London School of Economics | Bio/Vote History | ||
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While some price controls might help, effective regulation to eliminate low-quality products is probably more important.
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||||
 John Van Reenen |
LSE | Bio/Vote History | ||
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 John Vickers |
Oxford | Bio/Vote History | ||
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In a crisis there has to be a better way than the price mechanism to allocate such goods, but will governments establish one?
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||||
 Hans-Joachim Voth |
University of Zurich | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
Depends on the elasticity of supply
|
||||
 Beatrice Weder di Mauro |
The Graduate Institute, Geneva | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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||||
 Karl Whelan |
University College Dublin | Bio/Vote History | ||
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If there are shortages of PPE for medical staff then there is higher social value to getting them this equipment than others.
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||||
 Charles Wyplosz |
The Graduate Institute Geneva | Bio/Vote History | ||
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There already is a black market. Price fixing will further develop this market.
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||||
 Fabrizio Zilibotti |
Yale University | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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Question B Participant Responses
Participant |
University |
Vote |
Confidence |
Bio/Vote History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Franklin Allen |
Imperial College London | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
Again a very difficult issue.
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Pol Antras |
Harvard | Bio/Vote History | ||
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But I can only see this working on a very temporary basis.
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Agnès Bénassy-Quéré |
Paris School of Economics | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Only if some technology is available to distribute the goods evenly.
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||||
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Olivier Blanchard |
Peterson Institute | Bio/Vote History | ||
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This might decrease supply and be costly. But rationing may get the goods to those who have the most time and need.
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Nicholas Bloom |
Stanford | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Pros and cons
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Richard William Blundell |
University College London | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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Elena Carletti |
Bocconi | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Jean-Pierre Danthine |
Paris School of Economics | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Paul De Grauwe |
LSE | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Jan Eeckhout |
UPF Barcelona | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Ernst Fehr |
Universität Zurich | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Xavier Freixas |
Barcelona GSE | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln |
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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Jordi Galí |
Barcelona GSE | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Francesco Giavazzi |
Bocconi | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Rachel Griffith |
University of Manchester | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Veronica Guerrieri |
Chicago Booth | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Luigi Guiso |
Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Patrick Honohan |
Trinity College Dublin | Bio/Vote History | ||
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May need more than price control laws to improve allocation in such circumstances
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Beata Javorcik |
University of Oxford | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Botond Kőszegi |
Central European University | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Jan Pieter Krahnen |
Goethe University Frankfurt | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Price ceilings would deter production, without necessary implications for allocation, hence ceilings will lead to welfare losses.
|
||||
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Eliana La Ferrara |
Harvard Kennedy | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Christian Leuz |
Chicago Booth | Bio/Vote History | ||
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There are equity or inequality issues related to price gouging but they can be (better) addressed with policy in question 3.
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Thierry Mayer |
Sciences-Po | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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Costas Meghir |
Yale | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Again the price mechanism will ensure entry where most needed. Government subsidies can solve the affordability problem.
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||||
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Peter Neary |
Oxford | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Same response applies as to A): on both efficiency and equity grounds, allocating by quantity not price is better in a crisis
-see background information here -see background information here |
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Kevin O'Rourke |
Oxford | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Marco Pagano |
Università di Napoli Federico II | Bio/Vote History | ||
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The government should provide financial support to poor people who cannot afford such goods, rather than tring to control their price.
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Lubos Pastor |
Chicago Booth | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Torsten Persson |
Stockholm University | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Christopher Pissarides |
London School of Economics and Political Science | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Let prices rise but government should subsidise purchases by lower income groups
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Richard Portes |
London Business School | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Canice Prendergast |
Chicago Booth | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Lucrezia Reichlin |
London Business School | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Rafael Repullo |
CEMFI | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Hélène Rey |
London Business School | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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Antoinette Schoar |
MIT | Bio/Vote History | ||
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if production capacity is, fixed high prices equal rents and can be regulated. but if not, firms need incentives to invest in new capacity
|
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Daniel Sturm |
London School of Economics | Bio/Vote History | ||
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John Van Reenen |
LSE | Bio/Vote History | ||
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John Vickers |
Oxford | Bio/Vote History | ||
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It depends how good the rationing mechanism is. And beware adverse supply response.
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||||
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Hans-Joachim Voth |
University of Zurich | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Beatrice Weder di Mauro |
The Graduate Institute, Geneva | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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Karl Whelan |
University College Dublin | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Even if there was a theoretical argument for this (and that's unclear) price restrictions are hard to enforce in practice.
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Charles Wyplosz |
The Graduate Institute Geneva | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Isn't it better to provide support to the people with low income and those who lost their jobs (as many countries actually do)?
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Fabrizio Zilibotti |
Yale University | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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||||
Question C Participant Responses
Participant |
University |
Vote |
Confidence |
Bio/Vote History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Franklin Allen |
Imperial College London | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
In pronciple this sounds a good idea, but it depends what prices the government pays and how the purchase is financed.
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Pol Antras |
Harvard | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
This seems like a good idea, but I worry about how well implemented it would be. Perhaps I'm particularly skeptic because of where I live.
|
||||
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Agnès Bénassy-Quéré |
Paris School of Economics | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Governments (especially in the EU) should group their procurements in order to reap market power.
|
||||
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Olivier Blanchard |
Peterson Institute | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Clearly the best solution if it can be achieved. A small risk of cronysm in distribution, but worth taking
|
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Nicholas Bloom |
Stanford | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Richard William Blundell |
University College London | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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Elena Carletti |
Bocconi | Bio/Vote History | ||
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||||
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Jean-Pierre Danthine |
Paris School of Economics | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Paul De Grauwe |
LSE | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Jan Eeckhout |
UPF Barcelona | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
Depends: If there is hoarding and runs on products, intervention helps; if it disrupts the supply chain (parts of ventilators), it does not
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||||
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Ernst Fehr |
Universität Zurich | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Xavier Freixas |
Barcelona GSE | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln |
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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Jordi Galí |
Barcelona GSE | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Francesco Giavazzi |
Bocconi | Bio/Vote History | ||
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||||
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Rachel Griffith |
University of Manchester | Bio/Vote History | ||
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||||
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Veronica Guerrieri |
Chicago Booth | Bio/Vote History | ||
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||||
|
Luigi Guiso |
Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance | Bio/Vote History | ||
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|
||||
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Patrick Honohan |
Trinity College Dublin | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
Government may want to pay more than old market clearing price to induce supply response
|
||||
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Beata Javorcik |
University of Oxford | Bio/Vote History | ||
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||||
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Botond Kőszegi |
Central European University | Bio/Vote History | ||
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||||
|
Jan Pieter Krahnen |
Goethe University Frankfurt | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
That is a way to ridge the gap between efficiency and a more broadly defined concept of welfare.
|
||||
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Eliana La Ferrara |
Harvard Kennedy | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Christian Leuz |
Chicago Booth | Bio/Vote History | ||
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||||
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Thierry Mayer |
Sciences-Po | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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||||
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Costas Meghir |
Yale | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
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||||
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Peter Neary |
Oxford | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
To earlier arguments can be added the externalities associated with mass innoculation: huge social benefits irrespective of ability to pay
-see background information here |
||||
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Kevin O'Rourke |
Oxford | Bio/Vote History | ||
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||||
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Marco Pagano |
Università di Napoli Federico II | Bio/Vote History | ||
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||||
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Lubos Pastor |
Chicago Booth | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
|
||||
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Torsten Persson |
Stockholm University | Bio/Vote History | ||
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||||
|
Christopher Pissarides |
London School of Economics and Political Science | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
Supplies would then be efficient and policy would reduce inequality
|
||||
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Richard Portes |
London Business School | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Canice Prendergast |
Chicago Booth | Bio/Vote History | ||
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||||
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Lucrezia Reichlin |
London Business School | Bio/Vote History | ||
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||||
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Rafael Repullo |
CEMFI | Bio/Vote History | ||
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||||
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Hélène Rey |
London Business School | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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||||
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Antoinette Schoar |
MIT | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
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||||
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Daniel Sturm |
London School of Economics | Bio/Vote History | ||
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||||
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John Van Reenen |
LSE | Bio/Vote History | ||
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||||
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John Vickers |
Oxford | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
But easier said than done
|
||||
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Hans-Joachim Voth |
University of Zurich | Bio/Vote History | ||
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||||
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Beatrice Weder di Mauro |
The Graduate Institute, Geneva | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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||||
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Karl Whelan |
University College Dublin | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
Where there are shortages, allowing prices to rise is one way to get supply up. Getting equipment to medical staff should be first priority.
|
||||
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Charles Wyplosz |
The Graduate Institute Geneva | Bio/Vote History | ||
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Fabrizio Zilibotti |
Yale University | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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