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.
An immediate response to the Scottish Fiscal Framework review Comment The revised Scottish Fiscal Framework will continue to redistribute income tax revenues from England and provides a little more financial flexibility. 2 August 2023
An immediate response to the Scottish Government’s MTFS Comment Updated funding and spending projections show a significant funding gap looming for the Scottish Government – and little sense of how to address it. 25 May 2023
Spring Budget 2023 Collection Our analysis on the choices facing the Chancellor leading up, during and after the 2023 Spring Budget. 15 March 2023
Spring Budget 2023 response Comment An initial response to the Spring Budget 2023 from IFS researchers 15 March 2023
The fiscal backdrop to Spring Budget 2023 Comment How might recent economic developments affect the outlook for the public finances, and what does this mean for the Chancellor’s options at the Budget? 28 February 2023
The overall funding outlook Report This chapter looks at the Scottish government's funding outlook in the short term (2022–23 and 2023–24), medium term (2024–25 to 2027–28) and beyond. 26 January 2023
A monetary-fiscal theory of sudden inflations Working Paper This paper posits an information channel as the explanation for sudden inflations. 20 December 2022
A good start, but the markets may take fright again on Halloween Comment "Only a reversal of direction on that scale was ever going to be enough to reassure the markets and start to get fiscal policy back on track." 18 October 2022
Outlook for the public finances Report We look at the path for the public finances and the Chancellor's options to achieve fiscal sustainability. 11 October 2022
UK outlook: why we need to do things differently Report The UK is the talk of the town, and not in a good way. 11 October 2022
Public spending, pay and pensions Report The public sector pay settlements announced this July will pose severe budgetary challenges for many areas of government. 8 October 2022
Kwasi Kwarteng homes in on the right problems, but solutions don’t add up Comment Paul Johnson writes in The Times on the impact of Kwasi Kwarteng's mini-Budget policies. 26 September 2022
Paul Johnson responds to Kwasi Kwarteng's mini-Budget Comment Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget is a short-term sugar rush and a huge switch in direction. 24 September 2022
Mini-Budget response Comment The Chancellor announced the biggest package of tax cuts in 50 years without even a semblance of an effort to make the public finance numbers add up. 23 September 2022
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
How could a falling population affect the Scottish Government’s funding? Comment A falling population could be a boon for the Scottish Government’s finances within the UK. 2 September 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
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
IFS response to Scottish Resource Spending Review Comment 8% cuts to many service areas and hidden tax rises relative to the rest of the UK 31 May 2022
The Scottish Resource Spending Review: will the government choose axing or taxing? Comment In its upcoming Resource Spending Review, the Scottish Government will have to choose between spending cuts, tax rises, or hoping for extra UK government funding. 27 May 2022