KOF/SRF Survey of Economists on the Sovereign Money Initiative: Majority of Economists Reject the Initiative
The Swiss electorate will be voting on 10 June 2018 on the popular initiative “For Crisis-proof Money: Money Creation only by the Swiss National Bank!” (Sovereign Money Initiative). In collaboration with SRF, KOF asked research economists in Switzerland what they think of the initiative. While the majority of survey respondents reject this proposal, they concede that there is need for action when it comes to financial stability.
In collaboration with SRF, KOF conducted a survey amongst Swiss-based research economists on the “Sovereign Money Initiative” as well as about the security of the financial system. The survey comprised a total of seven questions. It showed that a majority of the questioned economists reject the initiative.
Survey results
- As the responses provided by the over 100 survey participants show, the majority of the questioned economists reject the initiative: three quarters of respondents are not in favour of the initiative.
- A full-value money system would eliminate the default risk of giro balances. However, the respondents see little need for action here. The majority of the questioned economists rejected the notion that a default risk of this nature was currently high. Most of the respondents view the default risk as being very low or low.
- The Sovereign Money Initiative aims to separate the creation of money from the granting of loans. The majority of the surveyed economists are also sceptical that this would be an effective and suitable measure to boost financial stability.
- Over 50% of the respondents are of the opinion that a sovereign money system would push credit costs higher.
- When it came to the question of the repercussions of the acceptance of the initiative on the independence of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), a majority of the economists take the view that the risk to the independence of the SNB is real. Almost one third of the survey respondents even think it very likely that the independence of the SNB would be impaired.
- The verdict on the risk of a system switch is also unequivocal. Around 70% are of the opinion that this is high or very high.
- Similarly interesting is the verdict of the final question on the general assessment of financial stability. Even though the majority of economists reject the initiative, half of the respondents take the view that the current regulatory measures to secure financial stability are insufficient.
The detailed results of the latest KOF/SRF survey of economists are available from us as well as from the SRF website.
About this survey
KOF sees itself as a mediator between academic research and the wider public. By conducting surveys amongst research economists, it aims to give these a louder voice. KOF understands research economists to mean economists based in Switzerland who work in the research field, i.e. who have published in an academic journal. As on previous occasions, the survey was conducted in cooperation with the SRF Business Unit. The Sovereign Money Initiative Survey was sent to 748 economists. Replies were received from 103 economists based at 35 institutions.