Much of the media debate among publicly engaged economists either fails to resonate with the COMPAS business panel or is at least somewhat repudiated.

In the New York Times, influential Nobel Prizing winning economist Paul Krugman ignited a debate about whether the world is a 1873-type Long Depression instead of a 1929-like Great Depression. CEOs and business leaders on the COMPAS business panel insist that it is neither, that the world is in a severe Recession instead.

For years, liberal and conservative economists have been engaged in battle over whether serious recessions and depressions are caused primarily by capitalist irrationalism (Krugman) or failed regulation (Milton Friedman). Panelists repudiate the two sides, saying that both government and free markets are at fault.

When it comes to prescription, panelists tend to be conservative rather than liberal or fence-sitters. Most favour cuts in government spending.

These are the key findings from this past week’s Internet survey of CEOs and business leaders on the COMPAS panel. The weekly business survey is undertaken for Canadian Business magazine under sponsorship of BDO Dunwoody LLP.

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