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 unfunded infrastructure projects. So, what do we make of the announcements? What are the implications of the spen...
Jul 30, 2024•37 min•Season 5Ep. 20
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-calculators/podcasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jul 22, 2024•40 min•Season 5Ep. 19
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....
Jun 27, 2024•40 min•Season 5Ep. 18
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 be aware of as they head to the polls? Become a member: https://ifs.org.uk/individual-membership Find out ...
Jun 25, 2024•37 min•Season 5Ep. 17
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....
Jun 21, 2024•38 min•Season 5Ep. 16
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.
Jun 18, 2024•26 min•Season 5Ep. 15
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.
Jun 14, 2024•39 min•Season 5Ep. 14
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.
Jun 12, 2024•36 min•Season 5Ep. 13
It’s manifesto week, and we’ll be coming to you with plenty of analysis of the promises, pledges and numbers. In this episode, we’ll dive into some work looking at the how the size and shape of the state have changed over recent decades, and how the tax system has changed since 2010. We'll also give our reaction to the Liberal Democrat manifesto. 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 informatio...
Jun 10, 2024•28 min•Season 5Ep. 12
The last few days have seen plenty of competing claims about tax rises, but very little discussion of the very tight fiscal situation facing the next government. What problems will they face? Can growth ride to the rescue? Also in this episode, we explore what's happened to the education system, from funding and teacher pay, to falling pupil numbers and the impact of COVID. Find out more: https://ifs.org.uk/ Become a member: https://ifs.org.uk/individual-membership Hosted on Acast. See acast.com...
Jun 06, 2024•36 min•Season 5Ep. 11
Since 2008, the UK economy has faced a series of shocks and challenges, leaving the next government with a difficult task. From low growth to falling living standards, we ask what structural problems the next government faces. We also tackle announcements on limiting tax rises, apprenticeships and the NHS waiting list. 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....
Jun 03, 2024•44 min•Season 5Ep. 10
In our first election special, we look at the broad economic picture and analyse announcements about the fiscal rules, the triple lock and tax. 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.
May 28, 2024•38 min•Season 5Ep. 9
After years of sluggish growth and flatlining productivity, a rare political consensus has emerged that growing the economy is one of the key priorities of the next government. With an election on the way, we're bound to hear pledges and policies on how to get the economy growing again. But how can we actually grow the economy? Can we get productivity growth back on track? And in what sectors can the UK lead?To help answer these questions, we’re joined by Anna Valero, Policy Fellow and Director ...
May 24, 2024•40 min•Season 5Ep. 8
Today, we’re setting the stage for a key moment in UK politics — the upcoming spending review, expected this November. The spending review will set some £600 billion of departmental budgets from April 2025 onwards, and will be a crucial moment for the next government to lay out its priorities and plans for public services. How should the incoming government go about doing the next spending review? How can the government make sure they deliver on their priorities? And will they be constrained by ...
Apr 25, 2024•46 min•Season 5Ep. 7
We often hear about government debt in the headlines. Currently the UK government owes around £2.65 trillion, nearly 100% of UK GDP - the value of all the goods and services produced in the UK in a year. How has the debt level grown? Should we aspire to reduce the debt? And do we need to worry about high debt to GDP ratios? Joining us today to answer all these questions and more, is David Miles, Professor of Financial Economics at Imperial College Business School, a member of the OBR Budget Resp...
Apr 11, 2024•40 min•Season 5Ep. 6
In his Spring Budget, the Chancellor announced a 2% cut to National Insurance, amidst other measures on tax and spending. What will the impact of the measures be? How will it affect living standards? And what choices face the next Parliament? Joining us today are Helen Miller, Deputy Director at IFS and Ben Zaranko, Senior Research Economist at IFS. 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 informa...
Mar 07, 2024•44 min•Season 5Ep. 5
Since the pandemic, the size the NHS waiting list has been in the headlines almost constantly. At the start of 2023, Rishi Sunak committed to decreasing the size of the waiting list as one of his ‘five priorities’, and since then it has actually gone up. So today, we’re going to dive into the NHS waiting list - what is it? How big is it? And is there a credible plan to get it back down? Joining us to answer those questions are Ben Zaranko and Max Warner, IFS economists who have recently publishe...
Feb 29, 2024•38 min•Season 5Ep. 4
Over recent months, you may have seen local authorities warning that they are facing a funding crisis. Since 2021, six local authorities have declared themselves effectively bankrupt, and many other local authorities have reported that they may soon be forced to do the same. How did we end up here? Why are local councils facing funding pressures? And what can government do to help them? Joining us to answer these questions are Tony Travers, a professor in the Department of Government at LSE and ...
Feb 14, 2024•39 min•Season 5Ep. 3
Income tax and National Insurance Contributions are our biggest taxes. Together they raise almost half of all tax revenues. National Insurance Contributions were cut at the start of the year, but we’re in the middle of a multi-year freeze in tax thresholds that will amount to a tax rise of over £40 billion by the time it’s finished. And these are just the latest in a string of changes in how we tax personal incomes. From cliff edges and personal allowances, to Scotland's 6-band income tax system...
Jan 25, 2024•41 min•Season 5Ep. 2
As we enter the new year, we take a look-ahead at what to expect in 2024. What will happen with the cost of living crisis? What might the Chancellor announce in his Spring Budget? What should we be looking out for during an election? This week, Paul is joined by colleagues Ben Zaranko, Helen Miller and Carl Emmerson to take a look at the stories which will define 2024. Find out more: https://ifs.org.uk/ Become a member: https://ifs.org.uk/individual-membership Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priv...
Jan 05, 2024•33 min•Season 5Ep. 1
With an ageing population, the UK faces a series of significant challenges with regard to its state pension. The OBR estimates that spending on the state pension, pension credit and winter fuel payment is expected to rise by 1.2% of national income (£32 billion per year in today’s terms) by 2050. How does the state pension work? What are the problems with it? And how can we reform it to work more effectively? In our final episode of the year, Paul is joined by Jonathan Cribb, Associate Director ...
Dec 21, 2023•35 min•Season 4Ep. 30
Inheritance tax is arguably the UK’s most unpopular tax - a recent YouGov poll found that just 20% of people deemed inheritance tax ‘fair’. Yet most people are unaffected by it - only a minority of estates currently pay inheritance tax. In this episode, Paul Johnson is joined by Arun Advani and David Sturrock to discuss the intricacies of inheritance tax. They cover the inequality inherent in the current system, the distortion of economic incentives resulting from exemptions, the small percentag...
Dec 06, 2023•39 min•Season 4Ep. 29
This week, the Chancellor delivered his Autumn Statement. After weeks of speculation about headroom, tax cuts and pre-election giveaways, the dye is cast and the policies are in. What was in it? What will the impact of his announcements be? And how sensible were the policies announced? Joining us today are Helen Miller, Head of Tax at IFS, Ben Zaranko, Senior Research economist and Tom Waters, Senior Research economist at IFS. Find out more: https://ifs.org.uk/ Become a member: https://ifs.org.u...
Nov 24, 2023•31 min•Season 4Ep. 28
From jaffa cakes and gingerbread men, to fur skin coats and children's clothes, our VAT system and its byzantine rules seem, on the surface, to be a fun quirk of the UK tax system.But dig deeper, and one finds economic distortions and inefficiencies due to the complex way the UK's third largest tax is levied.Leading us through this maze of complexity are Helen Miller, Deputy Director and IFS tax expert, and Dan Neidle, a tax lawyer and founder of Tax Policy Associates. Hosted on Acast. See acast...
Nov 16, 2023•34 min•Season 4Ep. 27
Climate change used to be that rarest of things in British politics – an issue over which there was broad interparty consensus. That consensus saw Ed Miliband oversee the passing of the Climate Change Act in 2008, committing the UK to an 80 % reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050; Theresa May enshrining of the target of net zero in law; and Boris Johnson going further still, increasing the target for 2030 reductions to 68%. But recently we have seen a divergence from this consensus, with...
Nov 06, 2023•34 min•Season 4Ep. 26
Do you remember when politics was the domain of good chaps and a time when politicians could be trusted to stick to the rules? Ok, so maybe there was never quite such a rose-tinted age – but from lobbying scandals to accusations of minsters bullying their staff, standards in politics seem to have been slipping in recent years. So this week the Expert Factor team take a deep dive into standards and ethics in public life – and how they are meant to be uphold. Why have standards been on the slide? ...
Oct 30, 2023•42 min•Season 4Ep. 25
From HS2 cancellations to Heathrow’s still unbuilt third runway, the over-budget Elizabeth line to the repeated delays to the Hinkley C nuclear reactor, why is the UK so bad at infrastructure projects? This week the Expert Factor team – Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Hannah White of the Institute for Government, and Anand Menon of UK in a Changing Europe – take a deep dive into what goes wrong when the UK wants to build big things. How did the costs for HS2 get so high? Is the...
Oct 27, 2023•32 min•Season 4Ep. 24
Rising inflation, a cost of living crisis, striking public sector workers, the NHS facing another winter crisis… costs on the public purse are spiralling and government borrowing is being pushed still higher. So is it true to say there is no more money left? This week the Expert Factor team take a deep dive into the state of Britain’s public finances. What would it mean if we stick to current tax and spend policies? What choices are facing this country’s politicians and its public services? What...
Oct 20, 2023•41 min•Season 4Ep. 23
On the 22nd November, the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will give his Autumn Statement. He will update MPs on the country's finances and the government's plans for tax and public spending, based on the latest forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility. In this episode, we speak to Carl Emmerson, Deputy Director at IFS and Ben Nabarro, Chief UK Economist at Citigroup, about the underlying economic situation facing the Chancellor. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Oct 18, 2023•45 min•Season 4Ep. 22
Recently, Rishi Sunak announced significant changes to the UK's net zero pathway. A ban on the sale of combustion engines has been pushed back to 2035, instead of a 100% phase out of gas boilers by 2035, this has been changed to 80%, and he’s scrapped energy efficiency targets for homes. What is the impact of the announcement? Who will it affect? How will it alter the UK's path to net zero? Joining us today is Chris Stark, Chief Executive of the Climate Change Committee, an independent, statutor...
Oct 11, 2023•44 min•Season 4Ep. 21
