Question 2:Do you agree that the German government should increase public spending given its persistently large current account surplus and given that it is part of the Eurozone?
Germany's current account surpluses spill over to the whole world, not just the Eurozone but nonetheless they are a threat to the Eurozone economy -- or perhaps rather they reflect underlying problems which themselves pose a serious threat. Viewed macroeconomically, they reflect insufficient spending in an economy with fiscal space, at a time when there is a chronic lack of demand in the Eurozone and global economies. Viewed through the lens of exports minus imports, they reflect an undervalued currency which is exporting unemployment to neighbours such as France. If this continues indefinitely that has to pose a political threat to the survival of the Eurozone.
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).
German Council of Economic Experts' view of ECB policy
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Question 2: Do you agree that the ECB's monetary policy masks structural problems of member states?
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German current account surpluses
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Question 2: Do you agree that the German government should increase public spending given its persistently large current account surplus and given that it is part of the Eurozone?
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Question 1: Do you agree that German current account surpluses are a threat to the Eurozone economy?
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