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.
US

Bitcoin II

Question A:

A bitcoin has a fundamental value of at least $1,000.

Question B:

The best forecast for the value of one bitcoin in 2 years is its current price.

 
Europe

Corporate Tax-Rate Harmonization

Question A:

Holding other policies fixed, the average European would be better off if every European country taxed corporate profits at a rate of 20% (based as closely as possible on a common definition of profits).

Question B:

If other policies were held fixed and every European country taxed corporate profits at a common rate of 20%, then reducing that common rate substantially below 20% would make the average European better off.

 
Europe

Board Quotas for Women

This week's IGM European Experts Panel statements:

A) All else equal, if corporations throughout Europe set quotas for a minimum number of women board members, the shareholder value of European companies would increase.

B) Taking into account the likely effects on investments in human capital by men and women, setting quotas throughout Europe for a minimum number of women board members would generate substantial net benefits for Europeans. 
US

Tax Reform

This week's IGM Economic Experts Panel Statements:

A)   If the US enacts a tax bill similar to those currently moving through the House and Senate— and assuming no other changes in tax or spending policy — US GDP will be substantially higher a decade from now than under the status quo.

B)    If the US enacts a tax bill similar to those currently moving through the House and Senate— and assuming no other changes in tax or spending policy — the US debt-to-GDP ratio will be substantially higher a decade from now than under the status quo. 
Europe

Energy Sources

This week's IGM European Economic Experts Panel statements:

A)  Subsidizing renewable energy sources is better than taxing fossil fuels, assuming the subsidy or tax would be set at levels that would reduce carbon emissions by an equivalent amount.

B)  Germany’s solar-energy subsidies to date have produced net social benefits for Germany.

C)  Solar-energy subsidies to date in Germany and other countries have produced net social benefits for the world. 
US

Balanced Budget Amendment

This week's IGM Economic Experts Panel Statements:

A) Amending the Constitution to require that the federal government end each fiscal year without a deficit would substantially reduce output variability in the United States.

B) Amending the Constitution to require that the federal government end each fiscal year without a deficit would substantially lower the cost of borrowing for the federal government.