Election analysis 2010

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) published a series of briefing notes in the run-up to the 2010 General Election. The briefing notes were funded by the Foundation and contained independent, rigorous and accessible analysis of the mail political parties' economic proposals. 

Subjects covered include:

• How achievable are the much-vaunted claims of ‘efficiency savings’ in public sector expenditure and can the effectiveness of these plans ever be truly measured? 
• What will the Labour and Conservative plans for National Insurance mean in practice? 
• What has happened to ‘severe poverty’ under Labour? Is it higher now than when Labour came to power in 1997? 
• Are UK living standards better or worse than when Labour came to power? How do trends between 1997 and 2008 compare to those under previous governments? 
• How have tax and benefit reforms affected total government revenues since 1997? What impact have these reforms had on the distribution of income between household types, on work incentives and on the incentive to save? 
• How has income inequality changed since 1997? Have Labour’s tax and benefit measures halted the rapid rise in income inequality seen under the previous Conservative government?