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
When Judith Collins and Julie-Anne Genter argue about expensive Auckland transport projects, I worry that they’re both right about the problems in the other’s preferred alternative. And it points to the need for better ways of deciding on transport investments. Read more
KiwiBuild never made any sense and could not work. The reason was simple. Read more
If you're going to read the Commerce Commission's market study on supermarkets in New Zealand, I'd suggest starting with the first half of Chapter 6 which explains the difficulties facing any potential new entrant. As far as I'm concerned, evidence on margins and such really don't mean much unless there are substantial restrictions against new entry. Read more
Oliver Hartwich and Eric Crampton join Matt Burgess to talk about the government’s performance on immigration since the lockdown. Skilled migrants who cannot get their families into the country or obtain residency are now leaving, while MIQ spaces sit vacant and the government is paying migrants to come into the country to deal with a skills shortage. Read more
About a year ago, North American friends started looking to New Zealand as an early glimpse of their own potential post-Covid world. They were still stuck in lockdowns; we had emerged from ours. Read more
The government allocated $50 billion in Budget 2020 to deal with the pandemic - on top of the $12.1 billion already allocated. We were going to spend what was needed for a strong public health response. Read more
Governments and councils have two basic levers for achieving policy objectives. They can spend money on programmes aimed at providing the desired outcome. Read more
Eric Crampton talks to Anna Thomas on Radio NZ Nights about heritage preservation, regulations and funding.
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Japan’s post Second World War economic growth was astonishing. Despite widespread devastation, Japan produced an economic miracle. Read more
When the government set a binding cap on New Zealand’s net emissions through the Emissions Trading Scheme, it also set a second cap – on prices. The hope was that that second cap would not really be needed, but it looks like it might become relevant rather sooner than anyone expected. Read more
Matt Burgess talks to Eric Crampton about the fiscal risks of a rapidly rising ETS price. If you would like to listen to our latest podcasts, please subscribe to The New Zealand Initiative podcast on iTunes, Spotify or The Podcast App. Read more
Last year’s cannabis referendum failed by a 51% to 49% margin. Drug reform advocates have since suggested decriminalising drug possession as alternative. Read more
The government faces increasing debt levels if it does not get the cost of an aging population under control. Eric Crampton talks to Wallace Chapman on Radio NZ - The Panel about Treasury's projections and whether the superannuation age should be raised. Read more
By the end of the year, all going well, everyone in New Zealand who wants to be vaccinated against Covid-19 will be vaccinated against Covid-19. All of the developed world barring Australia is rolling out vaccination more quickly than New Zealand. Read more
Last week’s post-Covid fiscal and monetary policy workshop, hosted jointly by the Reserve Bank and Treasury, seemed designed to warm the policy economics community to higher levels of public debt. While low interest rates mean investment projects that might not normally make the grade can now stack up, stacking up debt builds its own fragility. Read more