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
Last week a long-standing geologist friend chewed my ear about the government’s irresponsible ban on new offshore oil and gas exploration. I call it irresponsible because on the evidence no meaningful consideration was given to the interests of New Zealanders. Read more
Have you noticed how often the disembodied “we” word is used to justify policy action in government today? A stray document that reached our inbox this week may explain why. Read more
The government plans to build 100,000 ‘affordable’ houses in the next 10 years. How much greater is the housing stock likely to be in 10, 15 or 20 years as a result? Read more
Government was vastly smaller in 1908 than now. The tax-and spend state was vastly smaller, but so was the regulatory state. Read more
The Coalition government’s first budget is just over two weeks away. Its core is always fiscal policy – how much it is planning to spend and how it is planning to fund that spending. Read more
Could changes in 1989 to New Zealand’s tax treatment of retirement savings plausibly explain a significant portion of the subsequent sharp rise in New Zealand house prices? Andrew Coleman made the case that it could to a LEANZ audience in Wellington this week. Read more
Read The New Zealand Initiative's submission to the Social Services and Community select Committee on the Child Poverty Reduction Bill. Read more
When I was a lad, Treasury was a home for bean counters. Many a fine public servant did an accounting degree part-time at evening classes at Vic. Read more
New Zealand exports about 95 percent of its dairy production. The receipts make it a major overseas earner. Read more
Read The New Zealand Initiative's submission to the Finance and Expenditure Committee on the Overseas Investment Amendment Bill. Read more
Earthquake-prone New Zealand is still under-prepared for the next earthquake or major disaster. That is the central finding of The New Zealand Initiative’s research report, Recipe for disaster: Building policy on shaky ground. Read more
Kiwis know a lot about earthquake preparedness. We know that we have to store enough water and supplies to last for an extended period. Read more
Mike Hosking interviews Bryce Wilkinson about Treasury’s Living Standards Framework. It's part of a Government plan to show how many children have been lifted out of poverty in next May's budget. Read more
The coalition Government says about 384,000 families will be better off by $75 a week under its families package. It's estimated 88,000 children's lives will be turned around by the flagship policy which will cost $5.5 billion over the next five years. Read more
Government welfare must do a better job of breaking the cycle of disadvantage. That message was common cause amongst the audience at the launch this week of the New Zealand Initiative’s latest report Welfare, Work and Wellbeing: From Benefits to Better Lives. Read more