...if we add up the cost of all the council worker hours wasted on failed applications for the "Treasury Happy Press Release Fund" type gimmicks, I suspect more often than not the net benefit to the country overall will be minimal or negative

P.S. Speaking of great teams - there was also an award for all of "Team IFS", as @theifs.bsky.social won the top prize for "Think tank* of the year".

*(We're amending it to "research institute" in our hearts)

What an achievement for all my colleagues after a very busy year!

And, of course, it has been fantastic to work with Sarah Cattan, Pedro Carneiro, @gabriconti.bsky.social, Claire Crawford, and @nickridpath.bsky.social.

This award recognises an enormous amount of research, communication and impact - so it's vital to have an incredible team.

This was my first project at IFS a decade ago (!). So this is also an award that recognises the importance of supporting long-term research. We have been so lucky to have the Nuffield Foundation's support throughout.

Thanks to @nuffieldfoundation.org for supporting much of the work that made this analysis possible - not something you want to tackle from scratch on Spending Review night!

ifs.org.uk/articles/pop...