In this short item of ‘correspondence’ published in Nature last week, I argue that Stiglitz’s recently proposed International Panel on Inequality, modelled on the IPCC, is unlikely to be effective. It is one more case of ‘IPCC envy’, the reasons for which I have previously explored. I find it remarkable how so many commentators continue to set the IPCC on a pedestal as being the ultimate exemplar for how knowledge should best be brought to bear on political issues.