The Institute for Fiscal Studies is in danger of destroying its own credibility: its attacks on Labour's manifesto have crossed the line from reasoned analysis to ideology. As an economics journalist don't trust them anymore. Here's why... 1/
Today the IFS soundbite - that Labour's fiscal policies are "not credible" - forms the attack line for every billionaire owned newspaper. Here's the actual source of the claim - not a paper by analysts but an off the cuff interview by Paul Johnson: 
3/ So the argument is that corporation tax, and other taxes raised on companies "inevitably" gets passed on to consumers, workers and shareholders. The right wing ideological claim "companies don't pay taxes, people do", then is at the heart of the argument...
4/ Here's the source of the claim, from Stuart Adam, a research analyst at IFS: "Increases in corporation tax would affect far more than the very rich: much of the burden would ultimately be felt by employees and customers" ifs.org.uk/election/2019/…
5/ There are five sets of people (not three) among whom the tax rises will be distributed: shareholders, consumers, workers yes - but also managers and financial rent-seekers... and Labour's structural reforms will protect consumers and workers
6/ It is simply ideology, not professional economics, to insist that the burden of a 26% tax rate on corporations "must" be felt by workers and consumers. Likewise the unevidenced claim that it will "deter investment"...
7/ The IFS response to Labour's tax/spend plan is like if you showed a motor car to a man who's only ever seen a horse and cart. "That won't work" is the response - based on prejudice not knowledge...
8/ There is no experience in the post-neoliberal economy of a rich world govt systematically blocking corporations from passing on tax rises to consumers and workers - yet that is what Labour will do. So instead of relying on assertion the IFS needs to model the policy...
9/ Here's the challenge: build an agent based model to simulate the behaviour of workers, consumers, the government, financial speculators, companies and the central bank. Test Labour's manifesto against it. Without that the IFS "not credible claim" is just bullshit.
10/ Likewise the facile assertion that higher corporation tax will deter inward investment. A better attack would be that nationalisation risks might do so: but there is no evidence that, given the £400bn state investment plan the private sector would abstain from a bonanza.
