Bryce is a Senior Fellow at The New Zealand Initiative and the Director of the Wellington-based economic consultancy firm Capital Economics.
Prior to setting up his consultancy in 1997, he was director, and shareholder in First NZ Capital. Before moving into investment banking in 1985, he worked in the New Zealand Treasury, reaching the position of Director.
Bryce holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Canterbury and was a Harkness Fellow at Harvard University. He is a Fellow of the Law and Economics Association of New Zealand.
Phone: +64 4 499 0790
New research finds that incomes per capita in Italy could be 5% higher if the government wrote better laws. Many laws are confusing and hard to understand. Read more
Last week, Donald Trump slapped a 15% tariff on New Zealand exports. An annual nine billion dollars of our goods will now face higher barriers entering the US market. Read more
The government’s Overseas Investment (Amendment) Bill is more good than bad. It is more welcoming of incoming overseas investment. Read more
1. INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY CONCLUSION 1.1 This submission on the Overseas Investment (National Interest Test and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2025 is made by The New Zealand Initiative (the Initiative), a Wellington-based think tank supported primarily by major New Zealand businesses. Read more
News this week of how hard it was for some Gen Z New Zealanders to find paid work made grim reading. They were stories of young, qualified people handing out dozens of CVs, applying for hundreds of jobs, and receiving little more than silence in return. Read more
This week, Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee is hearing oral submissions on the government’s Regulatory Standards Bill. I support the Bill, most submitters oppose it. Read more
Dr Eric Crampton and Dr Bryce Wilkinson presented a submission to the Finance and Expenditure Committee on day four of hearings into the Regulatory Standards Bill, supporting the legislation while proposing nine recommendations to improve regulatory accountability and transparency. The submission emphasised the bill's potential to provide greater scrutiny of regulations, address economic challenges like housing affordability and productivity, and create a mechanism for Parliament to better understand the implications of proposed legislation. Read more
How should a select committee respond to a deluge of submissions? Does it matter if many submissions are part of a campaign playing on whipped up fears? Read more
Minister Chris Bishop has swung his ministerial wrecking ball at Wellington. He will strip the Gordon Wilson Flats of its heritage protection. Read more
1. INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY 1.1 This submission on the Public Works (Critical Infrastructure) Amendment Bill[1] is made by The New Zealand Initiative (the Initiative), a Wellington-based think tank supported primarily by major New Zealand businesses. Read more
Governments have many roles, but some are of fundamental importance. A vital role is to secure citizens in their persons and possessions. Read more
On 12 May, President Donald Trump's government spending and revenue bill was published. With characteristic panache, the President calls it his “Big Beautiful Bill”. Read more
Dr Bryce Wilkinson talked to Sean Plunket on The Platform about the Regulatory Standards Bill, explaining why the legislation is necessary despite seeming redundant. Dr Wilkinson argued that the bill elevates essential regulatory principles to a higher statutory status, ensuring government accountability and protecting individual rights by providing a check against potentially oppressive legislation. Read more
This week, the hotly-contested Regulatory Standards Bill was introduced to Parliament. Vocal critics claim that the Bill improperly elevates selected legal and constitutional principles. Read more
In Greek mythology, Sisyphus is condemned to spend eternity rolling a massive boulder uphill, time after time, for no lasting gain. Every time he gets it uphill, it escapes his grasp and rolls back to the bottom. Read more