IFS Zooms In: The Economy

As the OBR comes up with its forecast, which will underpin the Chancellor’s decisions at the Spring Forecast, one of the concerns may be that it tells her that she is not meeting her fiscal targets. That will require some action.  Helping Paul explore this are Andy King and Gerard Lyons. Andy previously worked at the OBR and is now a Specialist Partner at Flint Global. Gerard has spent o...

This week, President Trump was inaugurated for his second term and announced plans to impose significant tariffs on imports. But what exactly are tariffs, and how do they work? In this episode, we dive into the economic consequences of tariffs, why governments use them, and whether they actually achieve their intended goals. Joining Paul to unpack these questions is Peter Levell, Deputy Research D...

The UK’s housing market has long been a source of frustration for renters and homeowners alike, with issues of affordability and availability topping the agenda. The new government has identified housing market failures as a major barrier to economic growth—but what role does the tax system play in these challenges? In this episode, we’ll dig into how taxes impact the housing market, from the cost...

Today, we’re turning our attention to France, where a recent Budget has sparked intense debate and raised major questions about the country’s economic future. France is tackling some big economic challenges: rising public debt, slow growth, and the need for major reforms in areas like pensions and energy. In this episode, we’ll explore what was in the budget, why it caused such a stir, and how it...

From healthcare to education to local government, the public sector delivers essential services—but how can it stay effective and efficient with tightening budgets and rising demand? In this episode, we examine the UK government’s push to improve public sector productivity. Rachel Reeves is enlisting private sector leaders to tackle inefficiencies in Whitehall, while Wes Streeting has proposed NHS...

In the recent budget, the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, announced a £40 billion tax increase, pushing tax as a share of national income to an all time UK high. Just 6% of that came from an increase in inheritance tax, and just a small fraction of that will come from farmers. And yet it is the tax increase on farmers that has dominated the news headlines. But beyond the change to agricultural reliefs,...

At the end of October, the ONS announced that the fertility rate in England and Wales had fallen to 1.44 births per woman in 2023 - the lowest figure since records began in 1938.  What will this mean for the population make-up of the country? What other big demographic shifts are occurring? Why is this trend occurring across the developed world? And what will its implications be for the publi...

117 days after Labour took office, Rachel Reeves has finally delivered her Budget. From tax rises and fiscal rules, to public services and investment, we'll take a tour around all of the big announcements.  Paul is joined by Helen Miller and Ben Zaranko, colleagues at the IFS. Find out more: https://www.ifs.org.uk/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In our first ever live episode, we're going to look at how Rachel Reeves can make her first Budget a success. It will have been 117 days since Labour took power before we finally hear what is in the Budget - in that time we’ve heard about £22bn 'black holes' and the difficult economic situation the UK faces. We’re going to think a bit about some of the challenges facing the Chancellor, what she ca...

Sign up to our live event: https://ifs.org.uk/events/ifs-zooms-live-how-make-your-first-budget-success The budget coming up in a few weeks will be one of the big moments for Labour to set out their policy agenda. Over the summer, the government set out what it considers a difficult public finance picture - including a supposed £22bn ‘black hole’. The Labour manifesto promised big improvements to p...

Sign up to our live event: https://ifs.org.uk/events/ifs-zooms-live-how-make-your-first-budget-success There’s been lots of speculation that Chancellor Rachel Reeves is looking to raise Capital Gains tax in her upcoming budget.  Capital Gains tax raises around £15 billion a year, which is less than 2% of total tax revenue, and it’s paid by less than 1% of the adult population. But it’s import...

Sign up to our live event: https://ifs.org.uk/events/ifs-zooms-live-how-make-your-first-budget-success Currently, around 4.3 million children - that’s around 30% of all kids - are living in relative poverty. Since 2010 that figure has risen by over 700,000 and the new government has made tackling child poverty one of its key policy objectives, with a cross-government strategy due to be published i...

Sign up for our live podcast event: https://ifs.org.uk/events/ifs-zooms-live-how-make-your-first-budget-success Since the introduction of auto-enrolment over 10 years ago, more people than ever are saving into a workplace pension than ever before. However, new research from the IFS shows that approximately 30% to 40% of private sector employees (5 to 7 million people) saving in defined contributio...

We’re looking at the benefits system and answering the questions likely being asked by government ministers: how can the rising costs of benefits be managed, and what changes could improve the system? With disability and incapacity benefit caseloads rising and the Universal Credit rollout still ongoing, what options does the government have to address these challenges? How might frozen housing sup...

Over the summer we’re bringing you a series of briefings on the key challenges and policy options facing the new set of government ministers. Today we’re turning to the tax system and we’ll answer the questions that the Chancellor has almost certainly been asking Treasury officials in recent weeks: how could more tax revenue be raised and how could tax reform boost growth. Rachel Reeves has ruled...

Over the coming weeks, we’re bringing you a series of briefings looking at key areas of government and analysing their performance over recent years, the challenges they face and the solutions the new government may look to help them. This week, we’ll be looking at higher and further education.  Over recent months, we’ve heard lots of stories about the pressures on university finances, and co...

Over the next few weeks, we’re bringing you a series of briefings looking at key areas of government and analysing how they have performed over recent years, what challenges they face and which solutions are on the table. This week we'll start with the NHS - the UK's biggest public service. We're joined by Ben Zaranko and Max Warner, IFS experts, to discuss the big challenges facing the NHS, and w...

On Monday, the new Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, stood up in front of Parliament and spoke about, what was in her view, the challenging economic inheritance left to Labour by the previous Conservative government.  She revealed a series of unfunded commitments by the previous government - a multibillion-pound gap in the public finances covering areas such as spending on asylum seekers and unfunde...

In the King's Speech last week, Labour announced 40 new bills covering areas from planning and green energy, to fiscal locks and a national wealth fund. What can these bills tell us about Labour's economic strategy? We speak with IFS economists, Christine Farquharson and Ben Zaranko. Become a member: https://ifs.org.uk/individual-membership Find out more: https://ifs.org.uk/podcasts-explainers-and...

In the final run up to the election, we answer your questions about everything from borrowing to growth and from AI to the part that luck plays in the economy. Become a member: https://ifs.org.uk/individual-membership Find out more: https://ifs.org.uk/podcasts-explainers-and-calculators/podcasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Monday, we released our comprehensive analysis of the parties manifestos at an event in Westminster. After some time digesting and analysing the manifestos, we’ve concluded that neither of the main parties is being honest with voters about the challenges we face in coming years.  So, what are the manifestos missing? What are the big challenges facing us? And what information should voters...

We discuss 'levelling up' and local government and see how much progress has been made. We also analyse the SNP and Plaid Cymru manifestos. Become a member: https://ifs.org.uk/individual-membership Find out more: https://ifs.org.uk/podcasts-explainers-and-calculators/podcasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We discuss the Reform UK and Green Party manifestos and give our reaction to the policies and pledges within them. Find out more: https://ifs.org.uk/ Become a member: https://ifs.org.uk/individual-membership Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We discuss the Labour manifesto launched on Thursday and give our reaction to the policies and pledges within it. Find out more: https://ifs.org.uk/ Become a member: https://ifs.org.uk/individual-membership Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We discuss the Conservative manifesto launched on Tuesday and give our reaction to the policies and pledges within it. Find out more: https://ifs.org.uk/ Become a member: https://ifs.org.uk/individual-membership Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.