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
If you’ve ever had concerns about economists’ ethical commitments, relax. It could be worse. Read more
Legislation banning smoking and vaping in cars with children will take effect on Sunday. At the Auckland boundary, police will not only be checking exit papers, but also whether cars comply with the new smokefree regulations. Read more
The Initiative undertakes research that contributes to the development of sound public policies in New Zealand and the creation of a competitive, open and dynamic economy and a free, prosperous, fair and cohesive society. The Initiative’s members include two New Zealand supermarket operators, Woolworths New Zealand and Foodstuffs North Island. Read more
When land use planning is wrong, it is hard for anything to be right – from housing to supermarkets. Labour and National jointly support legislation allowing people to build more housing. Read more
The Initiative has, since its founding, undertaken substantial research into housing supply, zoning, and local government. About a third of the Initiative’s work for the past decade has been devoted to housing and local government. Read more
The Ministry of Health’s approach to Covid testing is going to kill people. For all of the past year, the Ministry has been horribly wrong about Covid testing systems. It has ignored substantial reviews of testing policy. Read more
Would you believe that the old story of Hansel and Gretel was based in fact? In 1963, Hans Trexler published a book I’m surprised that Oliver Hartwich hasn’t read: Die Wahrheit über Hänsel und Gretel. Read more
We are going to miss central bank independence when it is gone. It was hard-fought. Read more
Watching government agencies scramble to find solutions to problems they or other government agencies caused is darkly amusing. They rarely notice the root cause of the problem they are trying to solve, or that their proposed solutions only set the stage for the next round of problems to come. Read more
The Government has announced they will confiscate councils’ three water assets, despite widespread opposition from mayors, councillors, and ratepayers. Ben Craven sits down with Oliver Hartwich, Matt Burgess and Eric Crampton to discuss what the proposals will mean for councils; the winners and losers; and why centralised control of water assets is not the answer to local water issues. Read more
James Michael Curley, Mayor of Boston four times between 1914 and 1950, knew how to win an election. Curley’s key to victory? Read more
Eric Crampton told Heather Du Plessis-Alan on Newstalk ZB that vaccinated people should get hospital priority. New Zealand only has 183 ICU beds, so cases will be dealt with based on urgent need. Read more
Trolley problems are fun thought experiments in the philosophy and economics classroom. A trolley is hurtling down the track and will run over 10 people, unless you pull the lever. Read more
Those of us whose families are far away across wide oceans found a bit of hope this week. Entering New Zealand will really be rather simple. Read more
Wellington (Tuesday, 19 October 2021) – Today, the Government took a significant step toward restoring housing affordability. The New Zealand Initiative enthusiastically welcomed the announcement, supported by Labour and National, of a broad upzoning across urban centres where housing is terribly unaffordable. Read more