IFS Zooms In: The Economy

Dec 12 2024 135 ep. 36 mins 382

IFS Zooms In: The Economy Podcast artwork

Go beyond the 24-hour news cycle and get objective, independent analysis from the researchers behind the work. Hosted by Institute for Fiscal Studies Director, Paul Johnson. Every second Wednesday.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Why did the French budget fail to pass?

Dec 12 2024 39 mins

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 suc

How can we make government more productive?

Dec 03 2024 43 mins

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 Streeti

Inheritance tax rises and the Budget: who's affected?

Nov 15 2024 46 mins

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 agric

How big are the UK's demographic challenges?

Nov 08 2024 48 mins

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 b

What does the Budget mean for the UK?

Oct 31 2024 41 mins

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.

LIVE: How can Rachel Reeves make her first Budget a success?

Oct 24 2024 50 mins

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 Cha

What options does Rachel Reeves have for the Budget?

Oct 16 2024 35 mins

Sign up to our live event: https://ifs.org.uk/events/ifs-zooms-live-how-make-your-first-budget-successThe 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 b

Should the Chancellor raise capital gains tax?

Oct 09 2024 41 mins

Sign up to our live event: https://ifs.org.uk/events/ifs-zooms-live-how-make-your-first-budget-successThere’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 populati

How can government reduce child poverty?

Oct 03 2024 33 mins

Sign up to our live event: https://ifs.org.uk/events/ifs-zooms-live-how-make-your-first-budget-successCurrently, 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

Are people saving enough into their pensions?

Sep 20 2024 39 mins

Sign up for our live podcast event: https://ifs.org.uk/events/ifs-zooms-live-how-make-your-first-budget-successSince 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 defi