Do you agree that, on balance, the implementation of the agreement as outlined in media reports will have a non-trivial negative effect on Greek GDP?
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Answer:
Strongly Agree
Confidence level:
Extremely confident
Comment:
Tax increases, pension cuts in an environment of liquidity squeeze and highly oligopolistic product markets. Add huge uncertainty - this deal will be a short-run expedient. The recession that resumed at end-2014 and has carried into 2015H1 will intensify.
Question 1: Do you agree that it is feasible for the UK authorities to change the monetary system so that materially negative policy interest rates could be safely implemented? (In answering, you may wish to explain your reasons and define your view of 'material')
All monetary policy has distributional consequences, so that is not an issue. Effects on DB pensions and on existing nominal contracts, including those at Libor + spread, are significant. But the main point is that this proposal is politically not feasible, at least for many years to come. Don't muck about with my money!
Question 2: Do you agree that the benefits of reforming the monetary system to allow materially negative policy interest rates outweigh the possible costs?
Question 2: Do you agree that the outcome of the general election will have non-trivial consequences for aggregate economic activity (employment and GDP)?
Answer:
Neither agree nor disagree
Confidence level:
Not confident at all
Comment:
This is not a well-specified question. It requires the respondent to forecast the outcome of the general election. Some outcomes would be unlikely to have non-trivial consequences for aggregate economic activity, others very likely. But as of writing (24 March) this is the most uncertain and indeed complex election in living memory - and perhaps much further back.
Question 1: Do you agree that the austerity policies of the coalition government have had a positive effect on aggregate economic activity (employment and GDP) in the UK?
Answer:
Strongly Disagree
Confidence level:
Extremely confident
Comment:
The data are clear. The recovery is aborted immediately after austerity begins, then revival when it is (semi-covertly) relaxed.
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).
Deal or no deal: The Greece standoff
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Question 1:
Do you agree that, on balance, the implementation of the agreement as outlined in media reports will have a non-trivial negative effect on Greek GDP?
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Monetary policy and the zero lower bound (ZLB)
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Question 1: Do you agree that it is feasible for the UK authorities to change the monetary system so that materially negative policy interest rates could be safely implemented? (In answering, you may wish to explain your reasons and define your view of 'material')
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Question 2: Do you agree that the benefits of reforming the monetary system to allow materially negative policy interest rates outweigh the possible costs?
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The Importance of Elections for UK Economic Activity
Question 2: Do you agree that the outcome of the general election will have non-trivial consequences for aggregate economic activity (employment and GDP)?
Question 1: Do you agree that the austerity policies of the coalition government have had a positive effect on aggregate economic activity (employment and GDP) in the UK?
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