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
Remember former finance minister Steven Joyce’s claim that Labour’s fiscal plan for its 2017 general election campaign had an $11.7 billion “hole”? Back then, Labour intended to spend $572 billion in the five years to 2021-22. Read more
Oscar Wilde once quipped that a cynic was “a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing”. That saying has since migrated to refer to economists. Read more
Wellington Mayor Justin Lester says NZ Bus is up to 40 drivers short, with up to 30 cancelled services a day. He now wants the Transport Minister to help improve local bus services. Read more
The government is hyping Budget 2019 as a world-leading “Wellbeing Budget”. The December 2018 Budget Policy Statement proclaims the government’s key focus on improving the wellbeing and living standards of New Zealanders. Read more
In the mid‐1980s, New Zealand was forced into a major economic restructuring. Those adjustments were particularly significant for the traded goods sector, since export subsidies and import barriers were largely eliminated. Read more
Read our submission to the New Zealand Productivity Commission on their Local Government Funding and Financing Issues Paper (November 2018). Read more
What can politicians who care about value for money in government hope to achieve? Where should they focus their efforts? Read more
Taxpayer guarantees for bank deposits are a can of worms. There should be a strong presumption against them. Those who chase higher returns should bear the risks themselves. Read more
KiwiBuild – the government programme to build or deliver 100,000 homes in 10 years – serves no useful public interest purpose and promises to endlessly distract and embarrass the government. That is the signal conclusion of KiwiBuild: Twyford’s Tar Baby, a research note released this week by The New Zealand Initiative. Read more
Read The New Zealand Initiative's submission to the Independent Expert Advisory Panel on Phase 2 of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act Review. Read more
KiwiBuild – the government programme to deliver 100,000 down-sized homes in 10 years – is a waste of time and money. It serves no useful material public purpose and absorbs time and resources that would be far better devoted to addressing the real problem – housing affordability. Read more
Bryce Wilkinson discusses on TVNZ Breakfast his new report on KiwiBuild – the government programme to deliver 100,000 down-sized homes in 10 years. He explains why this policy is a waste of time and money and why it is not going to achieve worthwhile objectives. Read more
Executive SummaryRelative to income, dwelling prices in New Zealand are among the highest in the OECD. This is New Zealand’s housing affordability problem in a nutshell. Read more
Bryce Wilkinson discusses with Karyn Hay on Radio New Zealand the findings in his new report on KiwiBuild. He explains why the policy fails against all the objectives set for it. Read more
We have to take the flower by the thorns and cut the animalism out of our everyday language. That is the message this week from PETA, or the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Read more