Energy costs in Europe: economists discuss policy options

In her September 2022 State of the Union address, the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen called for windfall taxes on energy companies’ profits. She also flagged the possibility of price caps to reduce household and business bills for gas and electricity, which have soared in recent months. Romesh Vaitilingam summarises the results of a survey by the Initiative on Global Markets, which invited US and European economists to express their views on the policy responses to the energy crisis.