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
Emissions pricing and congestion pricing have a lot in common. The economics of both are straightforward. Read more
Dr Eric Crampton chatted to Professor Josh Gans from the University of Toronto on the global Covid-19 pandemic response. They discuss the importance of coming up with effective strategies to get the covid-19 vaccinations rolled out as quickly as possible and move onto the next conversation of how to reopen borders. Read more
The biggest risk to New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme isn’t technical issues in how the scheme is run or in its accounting. The biggest risk instead is politics. Read more
As economics Nobel laureate Paul Krugman once put it, “Productivity isn’t everything, but, in the long run, it is almost everything.” Which makes you wonder what Krugman would think of yesterday’s Budget. Hidden behind headlines of benefit increases, spending initiatives and a new unemployment insurance scheme lies a worrying small detail. Read more
Chief Economist Dr Eric Crampton discusses the Government's 2021 budget. If you would like to listen to our latest podcasts, please subscribe to The New Zealand Initiative podcast on iTunes, Spotify or The Podcast App. Read more
Here is our submission to the Transport and Infrastructure Committee on the inquiry into congestion pricing in Auckland. We broadly support the analysis and recommendations provided in the “The Congestion Question: Main Findings” (the Report). Read more
Chief Economist Dr Eric Crampton discusses the immigration reset on Radio New Zealand - The Panel hosted by Wallace Chapman.
Read more
The Government is turning its attention from low-skilled migrant workers and focusing more on 'high roller investors', with hundreds expected to arrive as a result of the new border exemptions. But the Government has sent a message saying industries that rely on low-skilled will need to change their ways. Read more
Potential skilled migrants deserve a few warnings about what they are getting into in moving to New Zealand – the kinds of disclosures that are often mandatory in the private sector to ensure consumers can make informed decisions The Fair Trading Act’s provisions against deceptive and misleading conduct do not seem to apply to Immigration New Zealand. Caveat emptor. Read more
In our latest podcast, Eric Crampton sits down with Graeme Jarvis, CEO of Medicines NZ for an in-depth chat about IP issues around the Covid-19 vaccines and how bottlenecking supply is keeping us from getting the world vaccinated.
Listen to the full podcast below (28 minutes):
The New Zealand Initiative · Eric Crampton and Graeme Jarvis discuss Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing and distribution Read more
The third column in our Insights newsletter is meant to be lighter. Something a bit wry or humorous – an amuse-bouche to close out the week. Read more
Vaccine access campaigners get one very big and very important thing very right. If only the richer part of the world can afford Covid vaccinations, the costs will not be borne only by people in poorer countries suffering from ongoing waves of illness and misery. Read more
On Radio NZ Nights Eric Crampton asks if waiving vaccine patents will improve worldwide access to a covid vaccine in reality, or are the bottlenecks found elsewhere in the system?
Read more
In a recent column for Newsroom (4 May 2021), Oliver Hartwich wrote about Europe, and whether its recovery will be worse than the recession. He wrote that the Covid-19 pandemic has not caused an ordinary recession - at least not in Europe. Read more
What if the real problem with local government is not that there are too many of them, but rather too few? Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta in April announced an independent review of local government. Read more