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
It has been rather a long time coming. Yesterday, Prime Minister Ardern announced that summer will bring vaccination passport requirements. Read more
Until August 2021, New Zealand laudably maintained elimination. Elimination was fragile. Read more
They say you can’t fight City Hall. And pity the developer who tries. Read more
Wellington (Thursday, 30 September 2021) – The New Zealand Initiative has welcomed today’s announcement from Immigration Minister Hon Kris Faafoi that the government will provide a pathway to residency for migrants currently in New Zealand. In May, The New Zealand Initiative implored the government to rethink their hostile approach to skilled migrants and called for migrants to be given residence. Read more
Dr Anne Wyllie, a New Zealand-born researcher at Yale University, led the development of Yale’s SalivaDirect test authorised for use in the USA, and independently validated in Portugal, Mexico, Ireland and the Philippines. She joined the New Zealand Initiative’s Dr Oliver Hartwich and Dr Eric Crampton for a public Zoom webinar on New Zealand’s COVID-19 response, and how we can better manage the pandemic. Read more
Eric Crampton talks to Bryan Crump on Radio NZ Nights about the history of Libertarian attitudes towards vaccination.
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Two years ago, Paul Romer warned the incoming President of the World Bank that the Bank should outsource its research function because “diplomacy and science cannot both thrive under the same roof.” The Bank depends on good relations with member countries. Romer had been World Bank Chief Economist from 2015 through his early 2018 departure, winning the Nobel Prize in Economics later in 2018. Read more
Dr Eric Crampton speaks to Medicines New Zealand CEO Graeme Jarvis about therapeutic medicines that ca treat Covid-19, and when we might expect them to become available in New Zealand. To listen to our latest podcasts, please subscribe to The New Zealand Initiative podcast on iTunes, Spotify or The Podcast App. Read more
Nobody knows what vaccination rate would allow restrictions to ease safely. But rates need to rise substantially. Read more
If lockdown had a bright side, it was having more time with the kids. Only needing to be online for school by 9, rather than rushing out the door at 7.30, meant bedtimes could be a bit later. Read more
Chittenden is the third most vaccinated county in America’s most vaccinated state: Vermont. As of late last week, 87.3% of Chittenden residents over the age of twelve had been vaccinated –close to New Zealand’s unofficial 90% target. Read more
Politics is hard when every available option is terrible. Get ready for a year of awful choices. Read more
Eric Crampton talks to Wallace Chapman on Radio NZ - The Panel about a Universal Basic Income for young people to help them get started in life.
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As Auckland struggles, hopefully successfully, to bring the current Delta outbreak under control, let us imagine a future variant – the Iota variant. This hypothetical variant is identical to Delta, except for one detail. Read more
As the anniversary of the first Covid lockdown approached, the Ministry of Health had some time on its hands. It had issued a new consultation paper and was looking for feedback. Read more