How fast is unemployment rising? Recently, the number of people claiming unemployment benefits has been rising at a slower rate than the numbers unemployed on a broader measure. The Government has announced an investigation into this apparent discrepancy. But is there really any discrepancy at all?

In Prime Minister's Questions this week Gordon Brown and David Cameron clashed over the Government's plans for spending on investment in public services. So how do the plans for investment spending going forwards compare to Labour's record to date and to that of previous Conservative Governments?

The International Monetary Fund has released the conclusions of its annual "Article IV" health-check for the UK economy. It endorses the Government's short-term fiscal giveaway to help ameliorate the recession (which the Conservatives say was a mistake), but says that it should be more ambitious in its plans to repair the public finances once the economic recovery is underway.

If the picture painted by the Treasury in this year’s Budget is correct, we are currently suffering a “bust” without having enjoyed a “boom”. But there is an alternative view of recent history that casts a less favourable light on Gordon Brown's tenure as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Alistair Darling admitted yesterday that the underlying health of the public finances is much weaker than he thought in last year's Pre-Budget Report, and that it will take two full parliaments of intensifying austerity to get government borrowing back to acceptable levels.

Some of today's papers suggest that the Conservatives have softened their inheritance tax policy while others have suggested that their promise to cut this tax remains. But is this pledge affordable given the state of the public finances?

The publication yesterday of the annual report of the Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, contains a controversial proposal to impose a minimum price of 50p per unit on alcohol, and follows close on the heels of similar ideas floated by the Scottish Government. We consider the merits of such a proposal and its potential impact on consumer behaviour, public health and public finances.

At their spring conference this weekend, the Liberal Democrats will discuss a series of proposals designed to combat inequalities in Britain's education system. One is a "pupil premium [to] bring the funding levels [of] one million disadvantaged pupils immediately up to private school levels." How effective might this be?

Schools Secretary Ed Balls has stated that he would be concerned if lotteries were used "other than as a last resort", and announced that the practice is to be reviewed by the Schools Adjudicator, to ensure that it is "fair for children." This observation suggests random school lotteries are likely to be fairer than the lottery of birth.

A House of Commons report has criticised the lack of progress made by universities in widening higher education participation among under-represented groups, despite public money allocated to them for this purpose. But IFS research suggests that the key to improving access to higher education lies with schools, not universities.