"These differentials are really important..."

Debate on the economy.  Three eminent economists, one from each of the main economic faculties in the United Kingdom.  In the chair a former Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Professor 1 (an authority on the American housing market):

"Look at the decline in US saving rates... look at the integrated data on the growth of credit, money and asset prices... look at falling IT costs..." (not sure why we were supposed to look at falling IT costs - did he mean that historically falling IT costs have accelerated the rate of electronic financial transactions?).

"Look at the political pressure to extend credit to the poor... consumers are not rational optimisers... look at the impact of housing wealth on consumption... high debt is bad for consumption... rising market panic on the feedback of shrinking credit supply undermining the solvency of governments and the banking sector..."

"German brinkmanship may lead to Eurozone disintegration... stagnation in the US and policy paralysis... China hits the buffers - Chinese government income is not based on taxation but is based on land sales for property development - a China slowdown would hit Germany hard as it exports to China but would reduce oil and commodity prices and for the UK this would be a big plus..."

Professor 2 (formerly with the Central Bank of Iran and formerly Professor of Economics at UCLA):

"Compare cumulative inflation deviations in Europe and the US... look at the inflation of the Euro economies relative to German inflation... these differentials are really important... compare with inflation in all the states of the US where there is much more convergence... look at purchase power parity and uncovered interest parity... link long-term interest rates to inflation differentials... there is more quantitative easing on the way... we need to put a cap on interest rates and print money as much as possible to hold the cap... the UK financial position is better than other countries so could expand construction to create employment... need to spend more on high-tech education and training..."

Professor 3 (member of the World Economic Forum):

"Germany has succeeded by exporting to China and developing Asia... Germany has redesigned its economy to look east... Germany is being asked to pay more than 5% of its GDP to the Eurozone periphery and the Germans will not stand for this... the UK needs to engage fully with the emerging economies... the UK needs to unleash its creative industries... the UK needs to work hard and save for the future..."

At the end each of the professors was asked about the future of the Eurozone:

Professor 1 - "The Eurozone will survive in a truncated form".

Professor 2 - "The Eurozone will evolve - remember it is politicians who are pushing for the Euro, not economists".

Professor 3 - "The Eurozone will not survive".