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
In 2010, the National-led government launched a rather substantial experiment. Auckland City’s smaller councils were forced to amalgamate into a supercity structure. Read more
It isn’t crazy to claim that New Zealand’s school system lacks ambition. Or, if it is, our shop has been crazy for a while. Read more
Belief that interest should be reinstated on student loans to allow learners to borrow more while studying. One economist says because the Government is subsidising the interest costs of student borrowing, it's up against lending constraints. Read more
Director of Economics for the Infrastructure Commission, Peter Nunns, talks to Eric Crampton, Chief Economist for The New Zealand Initiative, about his research on the size and scope of local government, as well as funding and financing mechanisms. For more, please read the Infrastructure Commission’s report, authored by Peter Nunns and Nadine Dodge, “Does size matter? The impact of local government structure on cost efficiency.” Read the podcast transcript here. Read more
Budget 2022 allocated just over $2.5 million a year, over four years, to the Customs Service to help it stop cigarette smuggling. I wonder whether it will be enough. Read more
A long queue of people form a circle. Each has a coin purse slung over a shoulder. Read more
If there were no better way of solving the problem, one could forgive how central government has approached water infrastructure reform. Some councils have done a very poor job in maintaining their pipes. Read more
Dr Eric Crampton and Christopher Snowdon, Head of Lifestyle Economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs, discuss New Zealand's change in legislation for vaping products. To listen to our latest podcasts, please subscribe to The New Zealand Initiative podcast on iTunes, Spotify or The Podcast App. Read more
On Sunday, the government announced an extension of the petrol excise and Road User Charge holiday, as well as half-price public transport, until the end of the year. The Beehive’s press release said that the move would reduce headline inflation by 0.5 percentage points. Read more
As an exemplar of the purest form of Kiwi anti-growth, anti-development orientation, it is hard to beat. If New Zealand doesn’t beat this particular habit, it is very hard to be optimistic about anything other than emigration. Read more
Eric Crampton discusses with Tova O'Brien on Today FM whether we should ban single use plastic bottles and phase them out with the rest of single use plastics. Read more
The economists descended on Wellington last week. Or, at least, many shuffled their way from the Ministries over to Victoria University to meet with academics from across the country for the annual three-day conference of the New Zealand Association of Economists. Read more
Suppose your middle-schooler came home with a math assignment. She was told to measure everyone in the house and report on heights. Read more
On Friday, 17 June, the American Food and Drug Administration approved the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines for children over the age of 6 months. The Centres for Disease Control recommended the vaccines the next day. Read more
This submission in response to the Emissions Reduction Plan supports the Zero Carbon Act’s goal of attaining net zero by 2050. We urge a greater focus on the Emissions Trading Scheme, enabling carbon prices to do more of the work in getting New Zealand to Net Zero, and avoiding policies that put net zero at risk by forcing higher-cost emission reduction strategies. Read more