Newstalk ZB: Dr Eric Crampton says returning spending to 2019 levels would have allowed rate cuts
Dr Eric Crampton
19 September, 2025
Dr Eric Crampton told Kerre Woodham on Newstalk ZB that New Zealand’s 0.9% economic contraction reflects the Reserve Bank “going incredibly overboard” in 2020–21 and losing credibility on inflation, making today’s correction unavoidable.
He criticised government claims of restraint, noting budgets remain “incredibly stimulatory” with “massive structural deficits,” and argued that if spending had returned to 2019 wellbeing-budget levels, the Bank would have had far more room to cut interest rates. Listen below.