Question 2: Which of the following will be the greatest inflationary (or deflationary) force facing the UK economy?
Answer:
None of the above, other, or no opinion
Confidence level:
Confident
Comment:
As indicated in my prrevious answer, I think it is a mixture of factors including debt, monetary expansion and, indirectly, Brexit. It will ultimately be a question of politics which one of these become the dominating force.
Question 1: Which of the following scenarios is most likely to hold on average for most of the upcoming decade?
Answer:
Inflation will be at the current target rate
Confidence level:
Confident
Comment:
The increase in public debt and in the broader montary base combined with pressures on the sterling exchange rate (due to lack of inward FDI flows in the aftermath of Brexit) probably means that inflation will come up although I do not see this happening within a short horizon. To the extent that the BoE retains its independence, I would have thought that inflation could be kept at or close to its target.
Question 2: How much will the new lockdown measures introduced on Thursday November 5 hurt UK economic activity this year relative to a counterfactual with the milder measures adopted over the summer?
Answer:
The economy will benefit from lockdown
Confidence level:
Very confident
Comment:
Again, this came too late, the signs were there for a few weeks before the government eventually moved for a national lockdown. It should have been done earlier - it would have been more effective and induced smaller costs. But not doing anything would just have meant even stronger measures becoming necessary later and with larger economic costs. Therefore, relative to doing nothing, this is benefitting the economy.
Question 1: How much of the decline in GDP experienced to date would have been avoided in the absence of any lockdown measures or other policy interventions (such as fiscal support)?
Answer:
GDP would have been lower absent lockdowns
Confidence level:
Very confident
Comment:
The lockdown came too late and therefore had to be extended for too long. The policy communication at the start of the pandemic was terrible. It was claimed that the UK had the best means for fending off the pandemic off in the world, a claim that clearly has been shown wrong. The PM telling that he shook hands with everyone in a hospital with Covid-19patients was very confusing to the population. The disregard for the lockdown regime of people in or close to government sowed distrust in the population. A faster, better communicated, and more decisive lockdown could have meant significantly smaller costs to health and the economy both in the short run and in the longer run.
Question 2: To what extent will school closures increase inequality in human capital development?
Answer:
To a small degree but persistently
Confidence level:
Confident
Comment:
My answre is based on the assumptions that:
(a) The duration of school closures does not stretch into the next academic year, and
(b) mitigating policies.
Without these, effects could be large.
Why is there an impact on inequality? Because children from less priviledged backgrounds will have worse physical facilities (accomodation, computers etc.) and their parents will be less able to aid their educational needs than children from more priviledged backgrounds.
Schools should be opened to cater for the children from the most under privileged backgrounds including children whose parents have health problems, children without approriate accomodation etc.
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).
Should We Worry About Post-Covid Inflation?
Question 2: Which of the following will be the greatest inflationary (or deflationary) force facing the UK economy?
Question 1: Which of the following scenarios is most likely to hold on average for most of the upcoming decade?
Lockdowns and UK Economic Performance
Question 2: How much will the new lockdown measures introduced on Thursday November 5 hurt UK economic activity this year relative to a counterfactual with the milder measures adopted over the summer?
Question 1: How much of the decline in GDP experienced to date would have been avoided in the absence of any lockdown measures or other policy interventions (such as fiscal support)?
The Economic Cost of School Closures
Question 2: To what extent will school closures increase inequality in human capital development?
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