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
Our Head of Research, Dr Eric Crampton, speaks to the Radio New Zealand team (from 3'30") about how economists measure productivity, and what insights we can gather from firms reporting increased productivity. Read more
Interest-free student loans have been very costly. The billions spent over the past decade subsidising student loans is only part of it. Read more
The rationales of individual freedom and personal responsibility with Eric Crampton, head of research at The New Zealand Initiative, on economics and digital content: copyright, censorship and Netflix. Read more
The Greens’ proposal that election campaign promises be costed has drawn the praise it is due: it is an excellent proposal. But it is a harder job than it might seem. Read more
Oxfam does fantastic work in the developing world. It is one of the relatively few charities endorsed by The Life You Can Save: the Peter Singer-inspired NGO that ranks charities by their effectiveness. Read more
I prefer making New Year's resolutions for other people rather than for myself. And in that spirit, can we make 2016 the year of not obsessing about whether New Zealand Inc. Read more
Parenting books are full of advice about how to raise your kids. Much of it is obvious: You should love them, instil in them a love of learning, let them take risks, and teach them to be resilient over adversity. Read more
Dr Eric Crampton on Newstalk ZB: Proposed minimum alcohol price sparks controversy
PLAY AUDIO Read more
Christmas slouches ever nearer. And with it holiday shopping, impossibly loud brass bands on Lambton Quay, and television Christmas specials reminding us that charity ought not stop with the family Christmas tree. Read more
A terrible spectre haunts New Zealand. Cash transactions come with no guarantee that they are not part of a money-laundering scheme. Read more
If you wanted to launder money, iPredict would hardly be your best choice. It would be unlikely to even make anyone's Top-20 list – or at least the Top-20 list of anyone sane. Read more
Most of the time, I look at policy in Canada and despair at how much worse things are back home. But the past few months have reminded me that Canada gets a couple of things right that New Zealand simply hasn’t managed to figure out yet. Read more
Last week’s town hall meeting in Khandallah on Wellington City Council’s proposed medium-density re-zoning was an eye-opener. I have been exceptionally frustrated by town planners’ inability to zone enough housing to meet the demands of a growing population. Read more
Most of the time, I look at policy in Canada and despair at how much worse things are back home. But the past few months have reminded me that Canada gets a couple of things right that New Zealand simply hasn’t managed to figure out yet. Read more
Dr Eric Crampton on Radio NZ: Gender diversity in leadership positions Read more