Question 1: How quickly will the economy rebound (e.g. to the pre-pandemic trend) once the COVID-19 pandemic has been contained and absent major policy interventions?
Answer:
The economy will recover within a small number (1-5) of years
Confidence level:
Not confident
Comment:
This depends very much on how long the pandemic will last. If a vacine or very effective treatments were found this year (unlikely), the economy could return to the pre-crisis growth trend very quickly. However, I expect the pandemic, and its economic damage will be with us for at least a year, at which point there will be scarring effects to both the demand and supply side of the economy.
Question 2: What is the best way to (eventually) reduce public deficits and debt?
Answer:
Higher inflation
Confidence level:
Not confident
Comment:
At current rates, the UK should certainly contemplate perpetuities and tax increase are preferable to government spending cuts. I chose inflation more a provocation and a predictive statement than as a recommended policy. (I believe the correct policy is a mix.) I expect inflation will rise in upcoming years from its current neglible levels. If my prediction is wrong, we are truly in a deep deflationary trap and the high levels of public debt are an opportunity to re-think the low inflation targets that have been the fasion of the past several decades.
Question 1: How urgently should the UK government address the rise in public debt?
Answer:
There is no need to take or announce any budgetary actions to reduce the deficit or the public debt until the end of the pandemic
Confidence level:
Extremely confident
Comment:
The government can borrow in perpetuity at half a percent. The market is paying the UK government to lend to it. This could very well change but I think it would be unwise to be concerned about hypothetical public debt crises in face of the worst recession in living memory.
Question 2: What is the best mechanism to pay for economic support provided by and to EU member states to combat the COVID-19 crisis?
Answer:
Expanded EU budget (with possible borrowing at the EU level)
Confidence level:
Not confident
Comment:
My preferred option would be debt restructuring that leads to substantial debt reductions to the most highly indebted member states, combined with greater enforcement of deficit limits in the future. This would avoid the patchwork of having to deal with a similar situation every decade. However, the Greek debt reduction in the previous crisis indicated that debt restructuring realilstically only leads to minor reductions in the country's debt burden. Given this, the EU will need to play a far more direct role. The crisis has shown that the greatest challenges to our civilization know no borders and enhancing the EU budget will be a good precedent for the future as well.
Question 1: What is the total size of funding that you would advocate at the EU level in support of its members to weather the COVID-19 crisis this year?
Answer:
10-20% of GDP
Confidence level:
Very confident
Comment:
The magnitude of the shock is unprecedented in modern peacetime and was entirely unanticipated. Some EU member states entered the crisis with high levels of public debt and limitted fiscal space to respond to the crisis. Italian debt is on the verge of "junk bond" status even with the ECB's support. The survival of the European Union project requires meanigful action that will entail transfers from north to south. The exact magnitude will depend on whether the funding is the in the form of concessional loans or outright transfers. The sums could be substantially smaller if they are more explicitly targetted to the weakest economies in the EU, but this will be difficult to enact politically.
The CFM surveys informs the public about the views held by prominent economists based in Europe on important macroeconomic and public policy questions. Some surveys focus specifically on the UK economy (as the CFM is a UK research centre), but surveys can in principle focus on any macroeconomic question for any region. The surveys shed light on the extent to which there is agreement or disagreement among these experts. An important motivation for the survey is to give a more comprehensive overview of the beliefs held by economists and in particular to include the views of those economists whose opinions are not frequently heard in public debates.
Questions mainly focus on macroeconomic and public policy topics. Although there are some questions that focus specifically on the UK economy, the setup of the survey is much broader and considers questions related to other countries/regions and also considers questions not tied to a specific economy.
The surveys are done in collaboration with the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR).
Will COVID-19 Cause Permanent Damage to the UK Economy?
Question 1: How quickly will the economy rebound (e.g. to the pre-pandemic trend) once the COVID-19 pandemic has been contained and absent major policy interventions?
COVID-19 and UK Public Finances
Question 2: What is the best way to (eventually) reduce public deficits and debt?
Question 1: How urgently should the UK government address the rise in public debt?
The Eurozone COVID-19 Crisis: EU Policy Options
Question 2: What is the best mechanism to pay for economic support provided by and to EU member states to combat the COVID-19 crisis?
Question 1: What is the total size of funding that you would advocate at the EU level in support of its members to weather the COVID-19 crisis this year?
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