US Economic Experts Panel

 

 

Following the Biden administration’s announcement of its intention to require that anyone at a firm with more than 100 employees or in the federal workforce be vaccinated or tested regularly, we invited our US panel to express their views on the likely economic impact of the vaccine mandate. We asked the experts whether they agree or disagree with the following statement, and, if so, how strongly and with what degree of confidence:

 

This week's US Economic Experts Panel statements:

A) The use of non-compete clauses in US employment contracts reduces workers' mobility and wages by more than is justified by the protection of employers' intellectual property and trade secrets.

B) Occupational licensing reduces mobility and wages for workers in many sectors where they could safely deliver services that consumers would prefer to those offered by licensed workers. 

This week's US Economic Experts Panel statements:

A) Industry consolidation and weaker competition in the United States meaningfully constrain innovation and wage growth.

B) Americans pay too much for broadband, cable television, and telecommunications services, in part because of a lack of adequate competition. 

Peter Neary, a member of IGM’s panel of European economic experts, passed away in June 2021 – a sad loss for the whole economic research community. On VoxEU, Patrick Honohan of Trinity College Dublin, a fellow Irishman and member of the European panel, co-authored an appreciation of Peter, whom he and Cormac o’Grada describe as ‘one of the profession’s European leaders, both in terms of the depth and range of his research and his role as a wizard of organizational development’.

 

Leaders of the advanced economies of the G7 recently made what they described as a ‘historic commitment’ on taxation of multinational corporations. We invited both our European and US panels to express their views on some of the issues surrounding the global deal on corporate taxes: the impact of a global minimum rate on investment, profit-shifting and low-tax jurisdictions; whether a stable international tax system that includes a global minimum rate can be achieved; and a potential move from levying taxes based on where firms’ headquarters and production are located to where they make their sales.

 

Amid fierce public debates about the size of the Biden administration’s coronavirus protection and stimulus package, we invited our US panel to express their views on the likelihood of the economy ‘overheating’ as a result of the current stance of fiscal and monetary policy. We asked the experts whether they agreed or disagreed with the following statement, and, if so, how strongly and with what degree of confidence:

 

This week's US Economic Experts Panel statements:

A) The $300 supplement to weekly unemployment benefits available from now through September 6 constitutes a major disincentive to work for lower-wage workers.

B) The $300 supplement to weekly unemployment benefits available from now through September 6 is likely to lead to re-employment wages for currently unemployed workers that are higher by an economically meaningful amount. 

There is much debate about whether the patents on Covid-19 vaccines should be waived to allow low-income countries to produce doses for themselves. We invited both our European and US panels to express their views on this issue and the broader challenges of vaccinating the world.