The £600 billion problem awaiting the next government podcastWe speak to David Gauke and Giles Wilkes, two experts who have been at the heart of the spending review process.25 April 2024
Be the Chancellor Our interactive tool lets you be the Chancellor. Change spending plans, set tax policies and see how your choices impact borrowing and debt.
Should we worry about government debt? podcastDavid Miles joins us to discuss high government debt and its impact on the economy. 11 April 2024
IFS Annual Lecture - Innovation and productivity policies: a budgetary perspective event 15 May 2024 Professor Heidi Williams (Dartmouth College) will deliver the 2024 IFS Annual Lecture on innovation and productivity policies.
Higher Education Access and Funding: challenges and policy options conference 14 May 2024 This one-day academic conference will look at access to and funding of Higher Education systems.
Jobs landing pageAt IFS, we recruit and train top-quality economists and professional support staff. We aim to foster a respectful and inclusive working environment.20 July 2022
Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy The Research Centre at the heart of IFS is the CPP.
Reversing NICs and corporation tax rises would leave debt on an unsustainable path Report In 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
Transparency is key to maintaining trust in government. Let’s not cap it Comment Paul Johnson in the Times on the importance of transparency in government. 12 September 2022
Response to the Energy Price Guarantee Comment The government has today announced an ‘Energy Price Guarantee’. This is our response. 8 September 2022
Who is most affected by rising mortgage interest rates? Comment What are the implications of rising interest rates for household budgets and who could see mortgage repayments reach a high share of their income? 2 September 2022
Conservative leadership election 2022 Collection Analysis of policy announcements made by Conservative leadership contenders Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss. 30 August 2022
People need help with their energy bills, but we will have to pay for it Comment "We may be facing such an emergency that deeply unpalatable decisions need to be taken." 29 August 2022
Cost of maintaining household support package rises by £14bn in light of new energy price cap Comment Both Conservative leadership candidates have promised tax cuts on energy bills. How much would these help and what would they cost? 26 August 2022
The outlook for the public finances under the Bank of England’s August 2022 forecast Report This report sets out an illustrative scenario for how the current path of inflation and growth might affect government revenues and spending. 18 August 2022
The long squeeze: rising inflation and the current government support package Comment We look at the impact of inflation and the government's proposals to tackle it. 15 August 2022
Can we all eat cake? Political leaders should explain that is pure fantasy Comment Paul Johnson in the Times on the dangers of 'cakeism'. 15 August 2022
The inflation squeeze on public services Comment Higher inflation squeezes public service budgets and makes government spending plans less generous than originally intended. How much less generous? 10 August 2022
Conservative candidates’ tax plans are increasingly similar, though still differ in scale and timing Comment The key point that neither candidate seems willing to spell out is that, ultimately, lower taxes mean lower spending. 1 August 2022
Rishi Sunak’s proposal to temporarily remove VAT on energy bills Comment Rishi Sunak has said that he would remove the 5% VAT charged on household energy bills for 12 months if the energy price cap rises above £3,000. 27 July 2022
The government’s debt interest bill in June hugely increased by high inflation and seasonal effects Comment Today's data release confirmed very high government debt payments in June, driven by high inflation and usual seasonal effects. 21 July 2022
Tax and spending policies of Conservative leadership contenders Comment On 5 September we will know which of the two is the next Conservative Party leader - and therefore Prime Minister - so their visions for tax and spending matter. 21 July 2022
An initial response to the public sector pay announcement Comment The government has announced pay rises for public sector workers covered by independent pay review bodies. 20 July 2022
What should public sector pay policy be trying to achieve? Comment What is the objective of public sector pay policy? What is it, and what should it be, trying to achieve? 18 July 2022
We didn’t see this coming because for 25 years we thought we had inflation licked Comment 'Pretty much everything we could have got wrong, we got wrong.' Paul Johnson on why economists failed to see inflation coming. 4 July 2022
Future of the welfare state Presentation This talk was given by Paul Johnson at Tony Blair Institute for Global Change's Future of Britain conference. 1 July 2022
The hardest decision for ministers is yet to come: what to do about pay Comment Paul Johnson writes for the Times on the 'difficult decisions' surrounding public sector pay. 20 June 2022
