Is the UK heading for a fiscal crisis? Or can policymakers still steer the public finances back to a sustainable path? The Office for Budget Responsibility’s latest Fiscal Risks and Sustainability report warns that, without action, UK government debt could climb above 270% of GDP by the 2070s - driven by rising borrowing, an ageing population, and the fiscal impacts of climate change. In this episode of IFS Zooms In, Helen Miller (Director, Institute for Fiscal Studies) is joined by Richard Hugh...
Jul 24, 2025•49 min•Season 6Ep. 15
Has Keir Starmer’s Labour government really brought in a “new way of doing government”? Or are its five missions more rhetoric than reality? To mark the one-year anniversary of Labour’s 2024 general election victory, the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the Institute for Government held a joint event exploring the government’s approach to governing – and whether its decisions, trade-offs and spending priorities reflect a genuinely mission-driven approach. In this episode of IFS Zooms In , we bri...
Jul 18, 2025•41 min•Season 6Ep. 14
Today, we’re zooming out to ask: what are the biggest economic challenges facing the UK in the years ahead? As Paul Johnson hosts his final episode before stepping down as IFS director, he’s joined by incoming director Helen Miller to reflect on the country’s fiscal outlook, the importance of economic growth, and the pressures of an ageing population. With rising demands on public services, debates over tax policy, and uncertainty around fiscal rules, how should policymakers navigate the road ah...
Jul 09, 2025•45 min•Season 6Ep. 13
Today, we’re asking whether people in the UK will be able to afford a decent standard of living in retirement. While the foundations of the system—like the state pension and automatic enrolment—are strong, there are growing concerns. Rising state pension ages, the unpredictability of the ‘triple lock’, low private saving rates, and the complexity of managing pension wealth in later life all pose challenges for future retirees. So, what changes are needed to improve outcomes? What’s the right bal...
Jul 04, 2025•44 min•Season 6Ep. 12
Today, we’re looking back at one of the most ambitious policies ever introduced for young children in England – Sure Start. Launched by the Labour government in 1999, Sure Start aimed to give every child the best start in life by bringing together early education, childcare, health services, and parental support under one roof. At its peak, more than 3,000 centres were operating across the country. But since 2010, the programme has been scaled back, with funding cut by around two-thirds. So, wha...
Jun 26, 2025•56 min•Season 6Ep. 11
Delays in the Crown Court are at record highs, despite more funding and longer court hours. So what’s really causing the growing backlog of serious criminal cases in England and Wales? In this episode, Paul Johnson is joined by Ben Zaranko (IFS) and Cassia Rowland (Institute for Government) to explore why court productivity may have slowed, what the consequences are for victims and defendants, and whether more money alone can fix the problem. Become a member: https://ifs.org.uk/individual-member...
Jun 19, 2025•44 min•Season 6Ep. 10
In this episode, we unpack the government's 2025 Spending Review with analysis from experts at the IFS. Paul is joined by Helen Miller and Ben Zaranko to discuss what the Chancellor’s plans mean for public services, government investment, and the broader economic outlook. 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....
Jun 12, 2025•44 min•Season 6Ep. 9
Rising tariffs, deepening tensions between the US and China, and a growing wave of protectionism—are we witnessing the unravelling of globalisation as we know it? In this episode of IFS Zooms In , Paul is joined by Professor Meredith Crowley (University of Cambridge) to explore the shifting landscape of global trade. Together, they unpack why trade barriers are rising, how trade wars are reshaping international relationships, and what this means for the UK and the global economy. This episode bu...
Jun 04, 2025•48 min•Season 6Ep. 8
It's been two months since the government first announced its plans to enact the largest welfare reforms for a generation, aiming 'to help sick and disabled people who can and have the potential to work into jobs’. Since then, there has been considerable debate about the consequences of these reforms. But why does the government want to implement reforms in the first place? How does the current system work? And what could the impact be for those receiving these benefits? In this episode, Helen i...
May 14, 2025•37 min•Season 6Ep. 7
This week, we’re looking at corporation tax, which was introduced 60 years ago. Across the decades there have been no shortage of predictions that corporate tax revenues will decline, and yet the tax is forecast to raise record amounts in the coming years. To pick all of this apart, and to see how Donald Trump and tariffs play into the story, IFS Director Paul Johnson is joined by Amanda Tickel, Head of Tax & Trade Policy for Deloitte UK and Helen Miller, who is Deputy Director at The IFS an...
Apr 10, 2025•45 min•Season 6Ep. 6
This week, we look at the Spring Statement. What were the decisions and trade-offs made by Chancellor Reeves? To pick this apart, IFS Director Paul Johnson is joined by IFS Associate Directors Ben Zaranko and Tom Waters. 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.
Mar 27, 2025•37 min•Season 6Ep. 5
This week, we’re looking at The Schools Bill. The bill, which has the full title of The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill 2024-25 , covers children’s social care and education. The aim of the bill, as stated on the House of Commons Library website, is to “improve the safeguarding of children and to raise educational standards”. We’re going to be focusing on the schools components. To look at this, IFS Director Paul Johnson is joined by Laura McInerney and Luke Sibieta. Laura was the founding...
Mar 11, 2025•47 min•Season 6Ep. 4
As baby boomers hold an increasing share of wealth, younger generations are finding it harder to build financial security, often relying on family support for major milestones like homeownership. In her book Inheritocracy , Eliza Filby argues that – because of this – baby boomers have been good parents but not always great citizens. To explore the issue, IFS Director Paul Johnson is joined by Eliza and David Sturrock, a Senior Research Economist at the IFS. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...
Mar 03, 2025•50 min•Season 6Ep. 3
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 over thirty years in senior roles in the City and in public policy. He is currently Chief Economic Strategist at...
Feb 12, 2025•55 min•Season 6Ep. 2
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 Director at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and an expert on trade economics. Become a member:...
Jan 23, 2025•38 min•Season 6Ep. 1
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 of buying and renting to the incentives—or disincentives—they create for landlords, developers, and...
Dec 18, 2024•38 min•Season 5Ep. 35
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 compares to the recent UK budget. To help us make sense of it all, we're thrilled to welcome Dr. Ant...
Dec 12, 2024•40 min•Season 5Ep. 34
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 reforms to boost output. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, President-elect Trump has stirred debate b...
Dec 03, 2024•44 min•Season 5Ep. 33
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, there were some other big reforms as well - to pensions and business reliefs. So to discuss how inh...
Nov 15, 2024•47 min•Season 5Ep. 32
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 public finances? To discuss those questions, Paul is joined by Melinda Mills, Director of the Leverhulme Centre...
Nov 08, 2024•48 min•Season 5Ep. 31
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.
Oct 31, 2024•41 min•Season 5Ep. 30
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 can learn from previous Budgets and how she can navigate these complexities. Paul is joined by colleag...
Oct 24, 2024•50 min•Season 5Ep. 29
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 public services, and the prime minister has since promised no return to austerity. Meanwhile, the cha...
Oct 16, 2024•36 min•Season 5Ep. 28
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 important for both the fairness and efficiency of the tax system. In this episode, we’ll explore why CGT reform ...
Oct 09, 2024•42 min•Season 5Ep. 27
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 in 2025. In today’s episode, we’ll explore the factors contributing to this increase in child poverty...
Oct 03, 2024•34 min•Season 5Ep. 26
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 contribution pension schemes are on course to have individual incomes that fall short of standard benchmarks in...
Sep 20, 2024•39 min•Season 5Ep. 25
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 support and past cuts to working-age benefits be impacting the most vulnerable? Should the government a...
Sep 10, 2024•43 min•Season 5Ep. 24
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 out tax rises on 'working people', saying that there will be no increase of income tax, VAT, Nationa...
Aug 28, 2024•43 min•Season 5Ep. 23
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 concern that some universities may go bust. We’ll discuss why this is, what happens if a university goes bus...
Aug 21, 2024•42 min•Season 5Ep. 22
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 what Labour will do about them. Become a member: https://ifs.org.uk/individual-membership Find out mo...
Aug 14, 2024•42 min•Season 5Ep. 21
