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
Economists’ open letters don’t have that great of a track record. In 1981, some 364 economists warned against UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s fiscal policies. Read more
New Zealand introduced a comprehensive GST in 1986. Value-added taxes elsewhere were riddled with politically-driven exemptions. Read more
In this podcast episode, Eric and Bryce discuss the history of regulatory reform efforts in New Zealand since 2001, focusing on the development of the Regulatory Standards Bill and its original mechanism of court declarations of inconsistency. They explore how diminished trust in courts' interpretations of laws has complicated this approach today, while also examining why past attempts to ensure good regulatory quality have faced challenges. Read more
You can learn a lot about a household’s priorities, or an agency’s priorities, when budgets tighten. For the past few months, we have heard a lot about how the health system has been cut to the bone. Read more
On NBR, Dr Eric Crampton and Dr Ganesh Nana presented opposing views on New Zealand's economic direction and government spending. While Nana argued for increased public investment in infrastructure and services to build long-term economic resilience, Crampton advocated for fiscal restraint and maintaining lower debt levels to preserve borrowing capacity for future crises. Read more
On The Platform, Dr Eric Crampton and Sean Plunkett discuss a controversial case where the National Public Health Service submitted objections to block McDonald's from opening in Wānaka, which Crampton characterises as an inappropriate and potentially vindictive use of the land-use planning process. The Health Minister has questioned the relevance of these submissions and raised the issue with Health New Zealand's Chief Executive, while both Crampton and Plunkett view this as emblematic of broader problems with bureaucratic overreach in New Zealand. Read more
In this episode, Eric and Michael discuss Australia's proposed law to ban social media for under-16s, examining how age verification would likely require government ID and create serious privacy risks as platforms would need to store this sensitive data. While acknowledging concerns about social media's impact on young people, they argue the Australian approach could enable government surveillance, compromise online anonymity, and create technical challenges that would either be easily circumvented or impose heavy costs on legitimate users. Read more
We all know we need to be prepared if we’re going to Australia. Brisbane has spiders the size of dinner plates. Read more
Dr Eric Crampton talked to Paul Brennan on Reality Check Radio about Australia's teen social media ban concept. The NZ Government are considering the same measure, Eric dives in and examines the real costs. Read more
Getting from Auckland to Cathedral Cove means a two-and-a-half-hour drive over 178 kilometres, the last third of which is a windy path through the Coromandel. Inland Revenue sets a $1.04 per kilometre mileage rate for business travel – a figure meant to include wear and tear on your vehicle as well as running costs. Read more
The Ch'íyáqtel First Nation near Chilliwack, British Columbia, is tiny. The Band counts 731 members, some 58% of which live on Ch'íyáqtel lands. Read more
If you think you understand something pretty well, here’s a fun exercise. Explain in detail how the thing works, including how one part causes another part to move. Read more
Emile Donovan spoke to Dr Eric Crampton on his show RNZ Nights about prediction markets and whether they are more accurate than polling. Listen below. Read more
In this episode, Eric talks to Dylan Mordaunt, a clinician and visiting fellow at Victoria University, about healthcare policy and regulation in New Zealand, sparked by a recent Niskanen Centre report highlighting how supply constraints affect healthcare delivery. They explore various regulatory barriers affecting medical practitioners, scope of practice limitations, and access to medicines, while discussing how to balance public safety with increasing healthcare accessibility and capacity. Read more
Sean Plunket talks to Dr Eric Crampton on The Platform about whether social media bans for kids actuallly work. Watch below. Read more