Paul Johnson is the current Provost of Queen’s College, Oxford and a Senior Associate at Frontier Economics.
He previously served as Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies from 2011 to 2025, steering it through landmark analyses of UK fiscal policy and earning the institute 'Economic and Financial Think Tank of the Year' recognition multiple times.
An esteemed public economist, Paul writes a regular column for The Times and is a visiting professor at UCL’s Department of Economics and the UCL Policy Lab. His career spans influential government roles, including Chief Economist at the Department for Education and Director of Public Spending at HM Treasury, and involvement in major policy reviews on pension auto-enrolment, inflation measurement and fiscal devolution.
In 2023, his bestselling book Follow the Money: How Much Does Britain Cost? exposed how government raises and spends over £1 trillion annually, drawing widespread acclaim for its clarity and impact. Paul is a frequent media commentator on tax, welfare, public finances, inequality, education and climate policy.
Recognised with a CBE in 2018 for services to the social sciences and economics, he also holds several honorary doctorates and is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.