US Economic Experts Panel

The Clark Center for Global Markets explores economists’ views on vital policy issues via our US and European Economic Experts Panels. We regularly poll over 80 economists on a range of timely and relevant topics. Panelists not only have the opportunity to respond to a poll’s statements, but an opportunity to comment and provide additional resources, if they wish. The Clark Center then shares the results with the public in a straightforward and concise format.

Please note that from September 2022, the language in our polls will use just two modifiers to refer to the size of an effect:

‘Substantial’: when an effect is large enough that it would make a difference that matters for the behavior involved.
‘Measurable’: when the direction of the effect is clear, but perhaps experts would differ as to whether it is substantial.

Breaking Up Large Tech Companies

Question A:

Forcing Amazon to divest Whole Foods now would be in the public interest.

Responses

Source: Clark Center Economic Experts Panel
Methodology

Question B:

Acquisitions by large tech platforms where there are risks of anti-competitive effects like those posed by Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods should not be permitted.

Responses

Source: Clark Center Economic Experts Panel
Methodology

Question C:

Large tech platforms, such as Amazon Marketplace and Google Search, should be designated as ‘platform utilities' and broken apart from any participant on that platform.

Responses

Source: Clark Center Economic Experts Panel
Methodology

Business, Management, & Corporate Performance

March 26, 2019

Modern Monetary Theory

Question A:

Countries that borrow in their own currency should not worry about government deficits because they can always create money to finance their debt.

Responses

Source: Clark Center Economic Experts Panel
Methodology

Question B:

Countries that borrow in their own currency can finance as much real government spending as they want by creating money.

Responses

Source: Clark Center Economic Experts Panel
Methodology

Clark Center Economic Experts Panel

March 13, 2019

Subsidies to Attract Businesses

This week’s IGM Economic Experts Panel statements:

A) When local governments compete by offering subsidies to a firm that is willing to relocate, and shopping across multiple alternative areas, the firm typically captures most of value that is created via the relocation.

B) A federal prohibition against states and municipalities offering tax subsidies to attract specific businesses that are shopping across multiple areas to relocate would be welfare improving for the average taxpayer.

Clark Center Economic Experts Panel

February 26, 2019

Corporate Social Responsibility

This week's IGM Economic Experts Panel Statement:

It is best for society if the management of U.S. publicly traded corporations only considers the impact of their decisions on customers, employees, and community members to the extent that these impacts feedback to impact shareholder wealth.

Business, Management, & Corporate Performance

February 13, 2019

Diversified Investing

This week's IGM Economic Experts Panel Statement:

In general, absent any inside information, an equity investor can expect to do better by holding a well-diversified, low-fee, passive index fund than by holding a few stocks.

Clark Center Economic Experts Panel

January 28, 2019

Top Marginal Tax Rates

This week's IGM Economic Experts Panel Statement:

Historical experience suggests that raising the top federal marginal tax on personal income to 70% (and holding the rest of the current tax code fixed) would raise substantially more revenue (federal and state, combined) without lowering economic activity.

Clark Center Economic Experts Panel

January 16, 2019

Ranked-Choice Voting

This week's IGM Economic Experts Panel statement:

Rather than using second-round runoffs to settle elections in which no candidate wins a first-round majority, it would be better to use ranked-choice voting (as in the state of Maine) in which voters are encouraged to rank all of the candidates.

Clark Center Economic Experts Panel

December 18, 2018

US Healthcare: Prices vs Quantity and Quality

This week's IGM Economic Experts Panel Statement:

The US spends roughly 17% of GDP on healthcare, according to the OECD; most European countries spend less than 12% of GDP.

Higher quality-adjusted US healthcare prices contribute relatively more to the extra US spending than does the combination of higher quantity and quality of US care (interpreting quantity and quality to reflect both greater American healthcare needs due to underlying population health and the delivery of more or better healthcare services to Americans).

Clark Center Economic Experts Panel

December 4, 2018

Climate Change Policies

This week's IGM Economic Experts Panel statements:
A) Considering a broad range of costs and benefits is a better tool for guiding climate policy than setting temperature limits (such as 1.5 °C, eg) based on expected links between temperature increases and the extent of environmental harm.

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

Clark Center Economic Experts Panel

November 13, 2018

Increasing Returns

This week's IGM Economic Experts Panel statement:

Ideas are nonrival, so increasing returns to scale is an essential feature of technological change in a market economy.

Clark Center Economic Experts Panel

October 17, 2018