John VanReenen's picture
Affiliation: 
London School of Economics
Credentials: 
Professor of economics
Director of Centre for Economic Performance

Voting history

Devolving Income Tax Powers within the UK

Question 2: Do you agree that that there is a clear economic case for establishing "English votes for English laws" with the same tax and spending powers as the Scottish Parliament?

Answer:
Disagree
Confidence level:
Confident
Comment:
There should certainly be some greater devolution of powers to city-regions within the England to partially match the greater decentralisation of powers to Scotland. The UK is extremely centralised by international standards. The method should follow the procedure suggested by the City Growth Commission which will be a procedure that depends on the capacity of the city-region to take on extra powers. Details are http://www.citygrowthcommission.com/publication/final-report-unleashing-metro-growth/ (I was a Commissioner) An independent commission should make the judgement on this. Property taxes should be devolved rather than other taxes.

Secular Stagnation

Question 2: Do you think that current structural and fiscal policies should place a considerably greater emphasis on pushing the natural rate into positive territory?

Answer:
Agree
Confidence level:
Confident

Question 1: Do you agree- making your own definition of secular stagnation clear if you disagree with that offered here- that it is more likely than not that the advanced Western economies have entered into a period of secular stagnation?

Answer:
Disagree
Confidence level:
Confident
Comment:
There is no need for Western economies (or Japan) to have fallen to a lower growth path. I agree that we need a more expansionary monetary and fiscal policy in the Eurozone and desired interest rates are negative. The reason we do not have more expansionary policies is political and ideological. It could be changed if policy makers behaved differently. I do not agree with the idea that the underlying rate of productivity growth has slowed - or if it has there is no clear evidence of this contra Gordon.

Migration and the UK economy August 2014

Question 2: Do you agree that current government policies with respect to non-EU migration (including policies on students, skilled workers, and family migration) are effective in maximizing the gains to the economy from migration while minimizing any possible negative impact to specific groups?

Answer:
Strongly Disagree
Confidence level:
Extremely confident

Question 1: Do you agree that migration to the UK can be expected to be beneficial for the average income of current UK inhabitants in the upcoming decade?

Answer:
Strongly Agree
Confidence level:
Extremely confident

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