Question 5: Voters think that the preferences of economists do not align with their own preferences. (This includes the possibility that they thought that the predicted negative economic consequences would not affect them personally).
Do you agree this was an important reason for a majority of UK voters going against the near unanimous advice of the economics profession?
Question 4: Voters did not believe the economic arguments put forward (for example, because they thought the arguments put forward by macroeconomists with dissenting views made more sense or because voters have little faith in economists in general).
Do you agree that this was an important reason for a majority of UK voters going against the near unanimous advice of the economics profession?
Question 2: What do you think is the most likely reason that a majority of UK voters went against the near unanimous advice of the economics profession?
Those voting Leave wanted control over EU immigration, and it is pretty clear that EU membership precludes that. However polling evidence also showed that most would not be prepared to pay for this: indeed many thought restricting immigration would lead to economic benefits. This suggests the message of economics that leaving would be costly failed to get through or was not believed. Understanding why that is is crucial, and although I indicate that I think it was largely a media failure, we really need some good research on this (relatively quickly while it is fresh in people's minds).
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).
Are academic economists ‘in touch’ with voters and politicians?
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Question 6: Economists did not explain the reasons for this consensus in sufficiently clear language.
Do you agree this was an important reason for a majority of UK voters going against the near unanimous advice of the economics profession?
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Question 5: Voters think that the preferences of economists do not align with their own preferences. (This includes the possibility that they thought that the predicted negative economic consequences would not affect them personally).
Do you agree this was an important reason for a majority of UK voters going against the near unanimous advice of the economics profession?
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Question 4: Voters did not believe the economic arguments put forward (for example, because they thought the arguments put forward by macroeconomists with dissenting views made more sense or because voters have little faith in economists in general).
Do you agree that this was an important reason for a majority of UK voters going against the near unanimous advice of the economics profession?
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Question 3: Voters chose to leave the EU for non-economic reasons.
Do you agree that this was an important reason for a majority of UK voters going against the near unanimous advice of the economics profession?
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Question 2: What do you think is the most likely reason that a majority of UK voters went against the near unanimous advice of the economics profession?
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