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
Dr Eric Crampton joins Emile Donovan on RNZ to talk about rates and explore alternative options. Listen below. Read more
The Housing Theory of Everything has one of those wonderful self-explanatory titles. A good title matters. Read more
1.1 This submission on the Misuse of Drugs (Pseudoephedrine) Amendment Bill[1] is made by The New Zealand Initiative (the Initiative), a Wellington-based think tank supported primarily by major New Zealand businesses. In combination, our members employ more than 150,000 people. Read more
Transport historian Dr André Brett has suggested that Wellington be renamed Lowerer Hutt, perhaps to help avoid confusion within the region. Economists Matthew Maltman and Ryan Greenaway-McGrevy have been looking at Lower Hutt’s housing boom. Read more
In the past, competitors could stop each other's projects through land-use planning. Although some of that has been dialled back, it's coming back in other ways. Read more
There was remarkable agreement at the New Zealand Economics Forum last week. Waikato University’s Forum is now an annual feature of the policy calendar, barring Covid interruptions. Read more
Sean Plunket talks to Dr Eric Crampton about his latest Newsroom article about the potential consequences of NZ's Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill. Watch below. Read more
The classic Simpsons “Monorail” episode wasn’t just a cautionary tale about local council megaprojects gone wrong. Monorail salesman Lyle Lanley told the good people of Springfield that he’d “sold monorails to Brockway, Ogdenville, and North Haverbrook. Read more
It might still be a longshot. But an interesting thread ran through this year’s Waitangi speeches and interviews. Read more
This week, Eric talks to Marko Garlick and Eleanor West, formerly of Generation Zero and now co-ordinating City for People, about the Independent Hearing Panel's process and review of Wellington’s District Plan. They also discuss the research on housing affordability and zoning, and how Houston has avoided letting local objections block wider development. Read more
The way New Zealand’s councils decide whether they have zoned sufficient land for development makes it hard to zone sufficient land for development. The problem is not any specific analysis. Read more
If a council’s zoning plans are wrong, it is hard for anything else to be right. If building enough housing in places where people want to live is forbidden, housing will be scarce, rents and house prices will be too high, and every other ‘wellbeing’ that councils try to deliver will suffer. Read more
Dr Eric Crampton speaks to Michael Laws on The Platform about New Zealand's economic challenges. Watch below. Read more
It’s funny how times change. In 2019, Labour announced its first ‘wellbeing’ budget. Read more
If Guyon Espiner at Radio New Zealand is right about Associate Health Minister Casey Costello’s plans for tobacco policy, there is reason to celebrate. At least for those who care about harm reduction, proportionality, and civil liberties. Read more