Government finances and spending

Presentation given at David Hume Institute seminar, King Khalid Building, Surgeon’s Hall, Edinburgh, 12 May 2016

In their Correspondence (March 19, p 1162),1 Peter Scarborough and colleagues correctly quote us as saying that “the efficacy of [a sugary drinks tax] will depend on what products [consumers] switch to and how firms change their prices”, stating that we “based [our] conclusions on economic theory without reference to the evidence”. We agree that the magnitude of consumer response is an empirical question. Our Green Budget chapter2 neither supported nor opposed the proposed sugary drinks tax, but rather aimed to highlight some of the complexities surrounding such a tax and where the evidence base should be improved. We also do not dispute the unsurprising finding that consumption of sugary drinks fell in countries in which a sugary soft drinks tax had been introduced. We disagree, however, that concerns about substitution responses can be lightly dismissed.

Presentation given at the Scottish Government Strategy Unit Seminar Series.

The Great Recession triggered the two largest annual falls in real government receipts since at least 1956. Yet, by the end of the decade, tax receipts as a share of national income are due to return to almost their pre-recession level. But, beneath this apparent stability in the overall tax take, there have been significant shifts in the composition of tax revenues.

In a new report out today IFS researchers provide an explanation of how the EU budget works, its size, where revenues come from and what the main areas of spending are. They also provide an estimate of the UK’s net contributions to the EU. The overall net contribution will be a little over £8 billion a year going forward, though it fluctuates from year to year and was £7.5 billion in 2012, £9.1 billion in 2013 and £5.7 billion in 2014.

This presentation was given at an event in Edinburgh on 22 March 2016.

This presentation was given at the IFS post-Budget presentation on 17 March 2016.

This presentation was given at the IFS post-Budget presentation on 17 March 2016.

This presentation was given at the IFS post-Budget presentation on 17 March 2016.

This presentation was given at the IFS post-Budget presentation on 17 March 2016.

This presentation was delivered at the Westminster Education Forum seminar : The future of school funding: policy, efficiency and best practice.

This presentation was delivered at the Workforce quality in the public sector workshop on 19 February 2016 at the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

Presentation for workshop on workforce quality in the public sector Institute for Fiscal Studies, 19 February 2016.

This presentation was given to the Communities and Local Government Committee on 22 February 2016.