Question 1: Do you agree that subjective well-being measures, or at least some of the subindices from the typical survey measures, are now reliable enough to give useful insights when used in macroeconomic empirical analysis?
Empirical analysis, macro or micro, can definetly make greater use of subjective well-being measures. If a particular policy is consistently associated with lower levels of subjective well-being measures over time and across different countries, we should ask ourselves why.
The ECB is trying to use monetary policy to influence the economic activity in the whole Euro area, despite significant differences among member states in fiscal policy, labor markets and social policy. Without further coordination and integration of such policies and real economic activity, the effects of monetary policy will be short-lived and can indeed limit the willingness of members states to face reforms. A coordinated effort to push structural reforms in member states might be the only option to make the Euro area more resistant to shocks in the long run, since a push for more integration in fiscal policy, labor markets and social policy does not seem to be on the political agenda at this moment.
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?
I think this will depend critically on the type of public spending. Public spending on investment incentives or infrastructure, for example, can further enhance the productivity advantage of German economy and can very well make the situation worst. The same might also be true for public spending that will enhance the flexibility of the labor market (such as child-related transfers). On the other hand, spending on housing or transfers to retired, cash or in-kind, might have a stronger effect on domestic demand and lower the savings rate.
I think German current account surpluses partly reflect positive supply shocks (such as labor market reforms that lowered wages and made German economy more competitive) and the current demographic structure that results in high savings rates. While the short term need for stronger demand from Germany to boost the Eurozone economy is clear, since the causes of German current account surpluses are more structural, they can only be addresses in the medium run. Furthermore, I think the challenge is to find economic mechanisms to handle such imbalances within a currency union. This will most probably will require further coordination of fiscal and labor market policies within the Eurozone and signalling Germany as a threat can slow down (rather than speeding up) establishing such mechanisms.
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).
Happiness and well-being as objectives of macro policy
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Question 1: Do you agree that subjective well-being measures, or at least some of the subindices from the typical survey measures, are now reliable enough to give useful insights when used in macroeconomic empirical analysis?
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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Question 1: Do you agree that exceptionally loose monetary policy by the European Central Bank is no longer appropriate?
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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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