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
Minerals never mined cannot benefit New Zealanders. They might as well not exist. Read more
Read our submission, written by Dr Bryce Wilkinson, to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment on the Review of the Crown Minerals Act 1991. This submission addresses itself exclusively to the questions raised in chapter 1 of the Discussion Document about the role and purpose of the Crown Minerals Act (CMA). Read more
A giant is dead. Paul Volcker died this week, aged 92. Read more
This submission is in response to the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment's (MBIE) Discussion Paper, Designing a Fair Pay Agreements System. In making this submission, the authors have drawn on the research and recommendations in our July 2019 report, Work in Progress: Why Fair Pay Agreements would be bad for labour, and say despite the overwhelming evidence against FPAs, if the government nevertheless introduces a framework permitting FPAs, and if the FPAs are to have any legitimacy, they must: be introduced incrementally, targeting only industries where there is evidence of labour markets failing workers and employers. Read more
Sometimes, being at the front of the queue isn't a good thing. If you lined countries up in a row, starting with the places least friendly to foreign investment, and ending with the places with the fewest restrictions, New Zealand would be near the front of the queue. Read more
To misquote from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, “Methinks today too many business leaders and politicians doth protest too much.” Less lip service to virtue and more meaningful action might be a fine thing. Or, at least, the risk of having to act in accordance with professed virtues might temper such protestations. Read more
Taken at face value, the government’s zero-carbon bill is a toothless façade. On closer examination, it looks more like a Trojan Horse for dictatorial government by decree. Read more
Rabobank recently reported farmer confidence had plummeted in the September quarter. Some 41% of surveyed farmers expected the rural economy to worsen next year. Read more
The apparently successful illegal occupation of private property in Auckland’s Ihumātao is potentially a serious setback for the rule of law, and thereby New Zealanders’ wellbeing. Also disturbing are the more immediate implications for Auckland housing and the Treaty of Waitangi claims process. Read more
In 1936, the father of Keynesian economics, John Maynard Keynes, used the term ‘animal spirits’ to refer to the fluctuating human emotions that can drive economic decisions in stressful times. Today the term is most often found in the context of investors’ decisions. Read more
What are budget advisers to make of the Reserve Bank governor’s call for increased public and private spending? Adrian Orr has reportedly even floated, as a future contingency option, taxing cash holdings to encourage savers to either spend or invest to stimulate the economy. Read more
This submission is in response to the second round of consultation on Phase 2 of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act review. Written by Roger Partridge and Dr Bryce Wilkinson, this submission focuses on four issues raised in consultation documents 2A and 2B, namely: What high-level financial policy objectives should the Reserve Bank have? Read more
These are strange times, even for economists. Fearmongers are urging governments to pump up their spending in order to maintain economic activity. Read more
Alan Duff’s latest book – A Conversation with My Country: Where we have come from. Where we can go. Read more
Bryce Wilkinson talks to Peter Williams on Magic Talk about our report Work in Progress: Why Fair Pay Agreements would be bad for labour. He discusses the findings of the Fair Pay Agreements Working Group and explains why Fair Pay Agreements will not improve productivity. Read more