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Omar Azfar Lecture - 'How much should we worry about inequality?'
On most measures income inequality in the UK has barely changed in 35 years. Indeed, it has fallen since the financial crisis. Yet public concern about inequality is higher than ever.
In this talk Paul Johnson will draw on the IFS Deaton review of inequalities to help understand this conundrum, and will also look at the sorts of areas – beyond tax and welfare – that policymakers ought to be exploring.
He will show that, while income inequality may not be increasing, a combination of stagnant incomes, growing importance of wealth, increased intergenerational inequalities, and labour market inequalities which go well beyond inequalities in headline earnings, are all crucial to understanding inequalities as a whole. He will look at what this analysis might tell us about principles for action.
The Omar Azfar Lecture is an annual lecture series established in 2015 to honour the memory of Omar Azfar, who came to Balliol in 1987 to read PPE. Omar became an economist and specialised in the field of crime and corruption. He was strongly committed to the ideal of social justice, and passed away in 2009. The lectures are funded thanks to generous benefactions from Old Members and friends, including Omar’s parents, Kamal (Balliol 1958, Literae Humaniores) and Naheed Azfar, and his close College friends, most notably Jeremy Burchardt (Balliol 1988, Modern History).
Paul started as Provost of The Queen’s College Oxford in August 2025. Before that he was director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies for 15 years, following periods as chief economist at the Department for Education and director of public spending at HM Treasury.
He is a columnist for The Times, and is a regular contributor to other broadcast and print media. He is a visiting professor at UCL and at York University. Paul published the Sunday Times bestseller “Follow the Money” in 2023.
He was for 11 years a member of the UK Climate Change Committee, and has served on the council of the ESRC and of the Royal Economic Society.
Paul has also for the last five years been helping to lead the IFS Deaton review of inequalities, and will be lead author of a book based on this study which is due to be published early in 2026.
Date:
28 October 2025, 17:00
Venue:
Balliol College, Broad Street OX1 3BJ
Venue Details:
Gillis Lecture Theatre
Speaker:
Paul Johnson
Organiser contact email address:
development.office@balliol.ox.ac.uk
Booking required?:
Required
Booking email:
development.office@balliol.ox.ac.uk
Audience:
Public
Editor:
David Barker
