The government is consulting on whether to introduce an online sales tax to pay for a reduction in business rates. Would that be a good idea? How might it work in practice, and what would be the effects on businesses, consumers and the high street?
The source of top incomes, who gets them and how they are taxed is important for understanding inequalities. How have top incomes and their source been changing over time? Who is in the top 1% - are they employees, or business owners or rentiers? How much tax do the top pay and should they pay more?
Chancellor Rishi Sunak responded to the OBR's latest economic and fiscal forecast on Wednesday 23 March. IFS researchers presented their initial analysis of the Chancellor's announcements on the public finances at a live-streamed press briefing the following day.
The availability of work with good wages and conditions makes a big difference to our material wellbeing and the kinds of lives we lead. At this online event we looked at what has been happening to inequalities in the UK’s labour market, and what the big policy challenges are going forward.
At this event, IFS researchers will set out their latest assessment of the economic and fiscal backdrop and some of the challenges that the Chancellor will need to consider.
In September, the government announced that it was introducing a cap on the lifetime social care costs faced by individuals. At the event a joint IFS-Health Foundation report was presented that looks at the implications of this change.
At this event, IFS researchers put the Levelling Up White Paper in context by outlining the current pattern of taxes and public spending around the country and presenting new work that looks at geographic inequalities in labour market outcomes.
In this presentation at the Local Government Association's Annual Local Government Finance Conference (2022), IFS researchers explained the economic and fiscal outlook, looked at how councils' finances have fared during the pandemic, and the funding outlook and issues facing the sector in the next few years.
The next few years are likely to be particularly challenging for schools, colleges, universities and nurseries. This event examined how education spending can be best set to support levelling up and narrow inequalities.
As part of this year’s Festival of Social Science, IFS delivered a public economic talk on "The economics of higher education" aimed at final year undergraduates studying economics.
There are important inequalities in the development of children well before they start school. By forcing nurseries to close and dramatically altering the lives of most families with young children, the pandemic may have exacerbated existing inequalities and possibly created new ones.
What are the likely pressures on the NHS going forward - not just from COVID-19, but also from an ageing population? How much funding might be needed to meet these? And will the government's latest reforms really be enough to 'fix' social care?
As part of this year’s Festival of Social Science, IFS delivered a public economic talk on "The economics of higher education" aimed at final year undergraduates studying economics.
The growth of international trade has had profound effects on the labour markets and even the politics of high-income countries. This online event focused on what economists have learned about how trade affects inequality in rich countries over the past two decades.
This lecture will cover what we learned from the last big economic crisis in 2008, and what it can teach us about the prospects for people graduating during Covid.