Eric Crampton is Chief Economist with the New Zealand Initiative.
He applies an economist’s lens to a broad range of policy areas, from devolution and housing policy to student loans and environmental policy. He served on Minister Twyford’s Urban Land Markets Research Group and on Minister Bishop’s Housing Economic Advisory Group.
Most recently, he has been looking at devolution to First Nations in Canada.
He is a regular columnist with Stuff and with Newsroom; his economic and policy commentary appears across most media outlets. He can also be found on Twitter at @ericcrampton.
Phone: +64 4 499 0790
Anyone who has read Douglas Adams's excellent Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy knows about the Vogon race of Vogsphere – the galaxy’s natural bureaucrats. They’re officious and callous. Read more
Kiwis on the minimum wage will have an extra $1.50 an hour in the pocket from tomorrow. The increase, which comes in from April 1st, brings the wage to $22.70 an hour. Read more
Public servants jumping roles may have melted the Government's pay freeze. The policy that was introduced for high-paid public servants during the Covid-19 pandemic has now ended. Read more
This submission in response to the Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Bill is made by The New Zealand Initiative (the Initiative), a Wellington-based think tank supported primarily by major New Zealand businesses. Read more
Wellington (Wednesday, 29 March 2023) – The New Zealand Initiative has damned the consultation process for the Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Bill. It urges that the Bill be amended to force rigorous post-enactment scrutiny, with the legislation repealed by 30 September if that scrutiny does not take place. Read more
More families could receive a $72.50 a week tax credit, as part of a massive and fundamental change to the system, after a review of the $3 billion Working for Families tax credit system that ended last year. A review of the scheme, which currently supports just under 350,000 families with children, is before Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni, and has found serious design issues in the way some of the tax credits are applied. Read more
It’s hard to find fans of the Resource Management Act. But will the government’s proposed reforms be an improvement? Read more
The Platform's Sean Plunket interviewed Eric Crampton on targeted government support packages.
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Police Minister Stuart Nash was right about retail crime. Solving the problem, as he suggested, requires reducing the number of targets. Read more
Mike Hosking discusses Eric Crampton's Newsroom column about managing retreat and insurance in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle. Read more
Managed retreat from floods and rising sea levels seems like a difficult problem. How to decide who might be allowed to live where, and what risks are acceptable? Read more
Massive worker shortages across numerous industries have led to calls for more immigration, on other side of the debate there are concerns about infrastructure capacity. This to and fro has long made a immigration a political football kicked between the parties. Read more
Director of Economics for the Infrastructure Commission, Peter Nunns, talks to Eric Crampton, Chief Economist for The New Zealand Initiative, about his research on the cost to deliver infrastructure in New Zealand and the need to improve the efficiency of our infrastructure sector, rather than only focusing on broadening the funding and financing options available to it. For more, please read the Infrastructure Commission’s report, “The lay of the land: Benchmarking New Zealand’s infrastructure delivery costs.” To listen to our latest podcasts, please subscribe to The New Zealand Initiative podcast on iTunes, Spotify or The Podcast App. Read more
Twelve years ago, an earthquake flattened much of Christchurch’s downtown. Civil defence, as well as those nearby and able to help, responded immediately to rescue those trapped. Read more
It has been a terrible couple of weeks. Assessing and costing cyclone damage from Northland to Wairarapa, but especially in Hawke’s Bay, will take months. Read more