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
Openness to foreign trade and capital is fundamental to New Zealand's prosperity. If we get both aspects right, New Zealanders can enjoy the best things the world can offer and great job prospects – without emigrating. Read more
This week we published the last in our series of three reports on New Zealand’s external financial links. Our report, Open for business: Removing the barriers to foreign investment, co-authored by the writer and Research Assistant Khyaati Acharya, examines New Zealand’s Overseas Investment Act 2005 and associated regulations. Read more
This is the third and final report in The New Zealand Initiative’s series on New Zealand’s global financial links. The second report in the series, Capital Doldrums, found that New Zealand stands out in international comparisons for the restrictiveness of its regulatory regime and the slump it its ranking for investment attractiveness. Read more
Economists can agree about many things. The importance of tradable property rights in scarce fresh water is a case in point. Read more
Fiscal surpluses are in sight, export prices are extraordinarily high relative to import prices, national income growth prospects look brighter than for many years, and this is a general election year. This sets the stage for unsustainable increases in government spending - or for tax cuts or some combination of the two. Read more
It is often said that tax is the price we pay for a civilised society. Indeed, taxes are necessary to fund key public services, including defence, law and order, the courts, border controls, civil defence, foreign affairs, public administration generally, and a contestably lengthy list of other potentially worthy activities of a collective nature. Read more
Last week the New Zealand Productivity Commission (NZPC) published its second interim report on productivity in the private sector component of the services industry. This website provides easy access to this report and related documents. Read more
Openness to the rest of the world through trade and capital is key to the prosperity of nations. Merchandise world trade has grown much faster than world GDP since 1980, but not as fast as global foreign direct investment (FDI). Read more
Healthy competition is a key driver of efficiency gains. It forces businesses to focus on meeting customer needs better than anyone else. Read more
This year, HSBC asked over 7,000 ex pats in 37 countries how they felt about the attractiveness of their host countries from a financial, quality of life and child-raising perspective. The results – many of which may seem surprising – were released early this month. Read more