What do economists agree on?

In a popular blog post from 2009, Greg Mankiw—author of one of the most popular economics textbooks—outlined the topics on which the vast majority of economists in the world agree. Here is his list, and we've tried to divide them into those we agree with and those we disagree with.

The percentage of professional economists who support the given position is written in parentheses.

Consonants

1. A rent cap reduces the quantity and quality of housing available. (93%)

2. Tariffs and import quotas reduce overall economic welfare. (93%)

5. The United States should not restrict employer offshoring abroad. (90%)

6. The United States should eliminate agricultural subsidies. (85%)

7. Local and state governments should eliminate subsidies for professional sports teams. (85%)

9. The gap between pension funds (Social Security) and spending will become unsustainably large in the next fifty years if current policies are not changed. (85%)

11. A large federal budget deficit has a negative effect on the economy. (83%)

12. The minimum wage increases unemployment among young and unskilled workers. (79%)

Disagree and why

3. A flexible and floating exchange rate is an effective international monetary regime. (90%) – the current system of fiat (paper, without any commodity backing) money should not exist, regardless of whether the exchange rate is floating or not. Something on the topic HERE

4. Fiscal policy (e.g., tax cuts and/or increased government spending) has a significant stimulatory effect on an economy with less than full employment. (90%) - the effect of tax cuts is certainly positive, while spending increases are negative.

8. If the federal budget is to be balanced, it should be done over the business cycle, not the calendar year. (85%) – Assuming that a federal budget is necessary (a topic of debate in itself), it should at a minimum always be balanced.

13. The state should restructure the social system along the lines of a negative income tax. (79%) – for us, the restructuring should be much different and more radical than the negative income tax favored by Friedman.

14. Wastewater taxes and tradable pollution permits represent a better approach to controlling pollution than imposing pollution caps. (78%) – indeed the better mechanism of the two, but still not the best.

* Original source: http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2009/02/news-flash-economists-agree.html
Translated by: Michael Tonchev

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