About this source
Helen Miller, Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, explains the structural forces driving UK tax rises — debt servicing costs, ageing demographics, rising disability and social care bills — and sets out frameworks for evaluating whether tax policy is credible, well-designed, and genuinely growth-compatible. The episode covers why bold reform packages outperform piecemeal tax grabs, how to distinguish good from bad capital taxation, and why long-run fiscal stability matters more than any single budget.
Frameworks extracted
5 totalFINongoing
The Fiscal Credibility Test
Evaluate government announcements by long-run commitment, not short-run numbers
STRmonths
Bold Package vs Piecemeal Picking
Reform everything at once or don't call it reform at all
FINmonths
Structure-Before-Rates Tax Reform
Fix the base and design first — arguing about rates is a distraction
FINongoing
The Inescapable Fiscal Trilemma
Every government faces three levers — and must pick at least one
FINongoing
The Debt-as-Real-Cost Lens
Debt interest is a tax today, not a problem for grandchildren