How to fix business rates podcast<p class="p1">Business rates are blamed for killing the high street. But would cutting them actually help shops and pubs - or simply make landlords richer?</p>27 August 2026
The tax and spending choices facing Andy Burnham podcast<p class="p1">Andy Burnham faces difficult choices over tax, borrowing and public spending. How much room will the new Prime Minister have to act?</p>16 July 2026
Will devolution solve the UK’s economic woes? podcast<p>Could devolution boost UK growth, or would it widen regional divides? We ask what shifting power from Westminster would really mean.</p>9 July 2026
The state of the justice system event 14 September 2026 <p>This in-person event marks the launch of a major new report bringing together insights from the IFS Transforming Justice programme.</p>
What should we do about high electricity prices in the UK? event 22 September 2026 <p>Join us as IFS researchers explore why UK electricity prices are so high, what is driving costs and what can be done to bring them down.</p>
IFS Annual Lecture: Are Ideas Harder to Find, Overall? event 12 October 2026 <p><span data-teams="true">Nobel Laureate Philippe Aghion will deliver the 2026 IFS Annual Lecture.</span></p>
Jobs landing page<p>At IFS, we recruit and train top-quality economists and professional support staff. We aim to foster a respectful and inclusive working environment.</p>20 July 2022
Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy The Research Centre at the heart of IFS is the CPP.
IFS Green Budget 2022reportThe IFS Green Budget 2022 takes stock of the economic and fiscal outlook following Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-Budget and analyses the challenges ahead.11 October 2022
UK outlook: why we need to do things differentlyreportThe UK is the talk of the town, and not in a good way.11 October 2022
Global economic outlook: heading for a fall?reportNew shocks are threatening to cut the global post-pandemic recovery short. 11 October 2022
Outlook for the public financesreportWe look at the path for the public finances and the Chancellor's options to achieve fiscal sustainability.11 October 2022
Public spending, pay and pensionsreportThe public sector pay settlements announced this July will pose severe budgetary challenges for many areas of government. 8 October 2022
Reforms, roll-outs and freezes in the tax and benefit systemreportWe show the impact of freezes and gradual roll-outs on personal taxes and benefits, as well as considering planned changes to the tax system.6 October 2022
Corporation tax and investmentreportWe look at the corporate tax system and proposals to change it.21 October 2022
Quantitative easing, monetary policy implementation, and the public financesreportRising interest rates, quantitative easing and current monetary policy techniques interact to put pressure on the public finances.14 October 2022
Reversing NICs and corporation tax rises would leave debt on an unsustainable pathreportIn the absence of official scrutiny from the OBR, we set out how much red ink might be added to the fiscal forecasts.21 September 2022
The outlook for the public finances under the Bank of England’s August 2022 forecastreportThis report sets out an illustrative scenario for how the current path of inflation and growth might affect government revenues and spending.18 August 2022
What is happening to public sector pay?explainerWith inflation rising, and a cost of living crisis hitting the UK, how much public sector workers get paid is hitting the headlines.31 October 2022
A response to the Chancellor’s ‘Mini-Budget’ reversalscommentFiscal credibility is hard won but easily lost. Today’s announcements won’t be enough, by themselves, to plug the gap in the government’s fiscal plans17 October 2022
Monetary policy techniques add to strains on the public finances: reforms could bring big benefits, but costs too press releaseSir Paul Tucker writes for the IFS Green Budget on how rising interest rates, quantitative easing and current monetary policy techniques interact.14 October 2022
The challenges facing the ChancellorpodcastWe explore the Chancellor's options for achieving fiscal sustainability.12 October 2022
With a weaker economy, getting government finances on a sustainable path without cancelling tax cuts could force Chancellor into big and painful spending cuts press releaseKwasi Kwarteng would need to announce a fiscal tightening of more than £60 billion just to stabilise debt as a fraction of national income in 2026–27.11 October 2022
Even if real pay is cut by 5%, public sector workforce may need to be cut by more than 200,000 by 2024 to stay within current spending planspress releasePublic sector workers will receive pay awards of around 5% this year, on average.8 October 2022
For every £1 given to households through headline cuts to taxes, £2 is being taken away in stealthy freezespress releaseBy 2025–26 these freezes take away £2 for every £1 given to households through the headline personal tax cuts. 6 October 2022
Benefits, inflation and redistributionpodcastWhat role does the benefit system play in redistribution - and how will high inflation impact the system?6 October 2022
IFS response to U-turn on plan to cut 45p income tax rate press release"The Chancellor still has a lot of work to do if he is to display a credible commitment to fiscal sustainability."3 October 2022
Mini-Budget responsecommentThe Chancellor announced the biggest package of tax cuts in 50 years without even a semblance of an effort to make the public finance numbers add up.23 September 2022
Deteriorating outlook for the public finances amid heightened uncertainty casts doubt on plausibility of promises of large permanent tax cutspress releaseThe two candidates for Prime Minister need to recognise the even greater than usual uncertainty in the public finances.18 August 2022
The long squeeze: rising inflation and the current government support packagecommentWe look at the impact of inflation and the government's proposals to tackle it.15 August 2022
The inflation squeeze on public servicescommentHigher inflation squeezes public service budgets and makes government spending plans less generous than originally intended. How much less generous?10 August 2022
Green Budget 2022event 11 October 2022 at 10:00 The IFS Green Budget 2022 will take stock of the economic and fiscal outlook following Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-Budget and analyse the challenges ahead.
Reforms, rollouts and freezes in the tax and benefit systemevent 6 October 2022 at 11:00 This event explored the impact of the significant change the tax and benefit system is currently undergoing.
A look ahead to Friday's mini-Budgetevent 22 September 2022 at 09:00 On Friday, the Chancellor will make his first fiscal statement since taking office. What should we look out for?
Why is UK electricity so expensive? podcast Why UK electricity prices are so high, how renewables affect costs, and what government can do to protect households from shocks. 21 May 2026
Land value tax: the perfect tax? podcast Unlike most taxes, land value tax doesn’t discourage people from working, investing or building. So why don’t we use it more? 7 September 2026
How to fix business rates podcast Business rates are blamed for killing the high street. But would cutting them actually help shops and pubs - or simply make landlords richer? 27 August 2026
Unemployment, benefits and household spending: new evidence from UK bank account data report How much protection does the benefit system afford the newly unemployed? We use UK bank account data to track financial impacts of job loss. 9 January 2026
Economic outlook: navigating narrow paths report Ahead of the Autumn Budget, the UK economy stands at a pivotal juncture, with growth decelerating, unemployment rising and inflation above target. 16 October 2025
Response to the Scottish Parliament Finance and Public Administration Committee’s inquiry on the affordability and sustainability of Scotland’s tax and benefit plans resource A response by the IFS’s David Phillips and João Sousa so the Scottish Finance Committee’s pre-Budget inquiry. 14 August 2026
Discretion versus algorithms: bureaucrats, tax equity and acceptability working paper We study how replacing bureaucrats’ discretion with algorithmic assessment affects the accuracy, equity, and public acceptance of tax decisions. 11 May 2026
The role of dispersed information in maintaining low interest rates working paper With domestic-currency debt, a confidence crisis need not cause default, as monetary financing can shift default risk into inflation risk. 17 December 2025
How do commuters adapt to local pollution pricing? working paper We study the phased introduction of London’s Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), a tax on highly-polluting vehicles. 5 December 2025
