Benno is a Research Fellow at The New Zealand Initiative with a wide range of policy interests. He has worked on several ‘once in a lifetime’, ‘generational opportunity’ type reform programs across central and local government, covering the Urban Growth Agenda, the Infrastructure Funding and Financing Act 2020, Three Waters reform, Resource Management reform, and Science, Innovation and Technology system reform.
Benno’s interest in policy was born after initially studying religion (BAHon), philosophy (MA) and psychology (GradDipSci) with a focus on consciousness, which culminated in a PhD from Victoria University of Wellington.
His subsequent policy career traced the problem definition of housing unaffordability to its roots, covering positions at The Treasury (urban planning and land markets), The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (infrastructure funding and financing) and Local Government New Zealand (three waters and constitutional underpinnings of alternative urban planning paradigms).
Most recently, he worked on how science, innovation and technology system reform could contribute to our global economic competitiveness and help turn around New Zealand’s long lasting productivity challenge.
The Economist, not known for hysteria, has quietly announced that advanced economies are halving their populations every generation. A demographic magic trick. Read more
The opening episode traces the intellectual and personal journey that gave birth to the idea of "Competitive Urban Land Markets" (CLM). It follows Chris Parker’s path from his early attempt at NZIER to broaden traditional cost–benefit models so they could capture the transformative effects of infrastructure investment, to his move into Auckland Council as Chief Economist, where he began to see high land prices not as signs of prosperity but as symptoms of monopoly and institutional failure. Read more
The Government deserves credit for wanting to make it easier for new supermarkets and other large projects to get off the ground. The Government’s broad approach is sound. Read more
At the INFINZ Conference this month, the Initiative’s Dr Oliver Hartwich presented some uncomfortable facts. New Zealand lags behind its OECD peers in productivity, capital intensity, and economic complexity. Read more
New Zealand has always tolerated a bit of theatre in local politics. This year, in Wellington though, it is more like the theatre tolerating the politics. Read more
Once upon a time, “Yes Minister” gave us Sir Humphrey Appleby, scheming, obstructive, magnificently verbose, but above all, competent. He could bury a reform in procedure without breaking a sweat. Read more
When Woolworths wanted to build a new supermarket in Christchurch, it took them four years and $3 million just to get permission. Did you know it takes an average of 18 months and costs $1 million to get permission to build a supermarket? Read more
Auckland desperately needs homes. Under thirties are giving up on finding homes while politicians promise solutions. Read more
In this episode, Oliver talks to Eric Crampton and Benno Blaschke about the New Zealand government’s supermarket competition reforms, which closely reflect The New Zealand Initiative’s policy framework—a major policy win that saw their research inform the Minister of Finance’s approach. They explain how their practical policy document shifted government thinking away from heavy-handed breakups and toward tackling the real structural barriers in planning and regulation. Read more
Wellington (Wednesday, 27 August 2025) – The Government’s supermarket package adopts the right strategy for competition – remove barriers to entry and open the door to investment. That is the core approach The New Zealand Initiative has championed for years, including in a May 2025 research note, A Fast-Track Supermarket Entry and Expansion Omnibus Bill, setting out a rules‑based alternative focused on planning, consenting and overseas investment. Read more
In this episode, Benno Blaschke talks to Oliver Hartwich about the recent Trump-Putin meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, where Trump appeared to abandon the Western position of seeking a ceasefire first in favour of Putin's demand for an immediate "peace deal" that would cement Russian territorial gains. They discuss the troubling implications of Trump applauding Putin on arrival, the bizarre shared ride in the presidential limousine, and how this summit signals a dangerous shift from rules-based international order to great power politics that could embolden other territorial aggressors, particularly China. Read more
The New Zealand Initiative is pleased to submit our comprehensive response to the Government’s Going for Housing Growth Discussion Document focusing on Pillar 1 proposals. This submission represents our analysis of how the proposed reforms can best achieve the stated objective of enabling competitive urban land markets to restore housing affordability in New Zealand. Read more
Minister Chris Bishop delivered an unprecedented message to local government leaders last month. At the LGNZ conference, he declared that New Zealanders question councils’ “licence to lead.” But his speech went further than typical government criticism of local authorities. Read more
In this final episode of their three-part series, Dr Eric Crampton, Dr Benno Blaschke and Dr Stuart Donovan critically examine the government's housing discussion document, assessing its potential to create more competitive urban land markets. They explore whether the proposed reforms genuinely move towards a more responsive and dynamic urban development system or remain trapped in existing planning paradigms. You can also listen to Part 1 and 2 here: Going for Housing Growth (Part 1): How we got into this mess - Struggling with uncompetitive urban land markets Going for Housing Growth (Part 2): The way out - The benefits of competitive urban land markets To listen to our latest podcasts, please subscribe to The New Zealand Initiative podcast on iTunes, Spotify or The Podcast App. Read more
Who knew that fixing something that works would become New Zealand’s signature planning move? In 1988, New Zealand boasted 453 special purpose governance entities. Read more