Clark Center Forum

About the Clark Center Forum

The Forum for the Kent A. Clark Center for Global Markets is home to the European, Finance, and US Economic Experts Panels as well as a repository of thoughtful, current, and reliable information regarding topics of the day.
Europe

Central Banks and Productivity

Britain’s Labour party recently proposed giving the Bank of England a target of 3% annual labor productivity growth. Consider the following statement:
Central banks cannot significantly increase productivity growth over a ten year horizon, except perhaps by promoting macroeconomic stability.

 
US

Central Banks and Productivity

Britain's Labour party recently proposed giving the Bank of England a target of 3% annual labor productivity growth. Consider the following statement:

Central banks cannot significantly increase productivity growth over a ten year horizon, except perhaps by promoting macroeconomic stability.

 
Europe

Digital Sales Tax

This week’s IGM European Economic Experts Panel statements:The European Commission has proposed new rules to ensure that “digital business activities are taxed in a fair and growth-friendly way in the EU”. Consider two statements regarding this proposal: An EU-wide 3% tax on revenue from digital activities would, on balance, be a good idea.

If the EU decides to tax digital service providers, it would be better — given the difficulties of measuring and verifying digital activity — to tax them on the revenue, rather than the profits, that they generate locally. 
Europe

China-Europe Trade

This week's IGM European Economic Experts Panel Statements:

A) Trade with China makes most Europeans better off because, among other advantages, they can buy goods that are made or assembled more cheaply in China.

B) Some Europeans who work in the production of competing goods, such as clothing and furniture, are made worse off by trade with China.

C) If the EU followed the new US steel tariffs by imposing similar EU tariffs on steel from China, it would improve Europeans’ welfare. 
US

The NCAA

This week's IGM Economic Experts Panel Statement:

NCAA Division I schools coordinate compensation for men’s basketball and football players (precluding actual pay and limiting non-monetary benefits), providing rents to member schools (which may be shared with others) at the expense of those players.