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
Alison Mau interviews Eric Crampton on RadioLIVE about Wellington City Council's request for expanded powers for the city. Whether through a City Accord modelled on Greater Manchester’s City Deal, or through a Special Economic Zone. Read more
Foreign investment is an important subject in the coalition discussions, with New Zealand First pushing hard to restrict foreign property sales. Chief Economist Eric Crampton talks with Mike Hosking about the effects on the economy if there will be a major concession done in this area. Read more
On his regular Radio New Zealand Nights chat, Dr Eric Crampton argues that New Zealand is the 'Outside of the Asylum'. As the rest of the world's going increasingly mad, New Zealand is not doing so bad. Read more
We do not know what government will form after party negotiations move past the Phoney War stage. But we do know the problems facing any incoming government. Read more
Dr Eric Crampton comments on the news that overseas investors have poured a billion dollars extra into New Zealand assets so far this year. Read more
Dr Eric Crampton talks on Radio NZ about the growing online support for National to form a coalition with the Green Party in order to rule out dealing with New Zealand First. Read more
New Zealand's gender pay gap has narrowed in recent months, but does that actually mean things have gotten better for women? Radio New Zealand's Insight talks with Dr Eric Crampton about the gender pay gap. Read more
Well, now we know what is likely to happen with taxes under a Labour government. National’s promised inflation-indexing of the lower income bracket tax thresholds will be gone, we will likely have some kind of water tax, but big changes like capital gains taxes are off the table until after a report from a Tax Working Group and the 2020 election. Read more
Elections are not quite the advance auctions of stolen goods that H.L. Mencken warned about. Read more
As part of their indepth look at the economy, 95bFM looks at work and income. Possible alternatives to the current welfare system include a universal basic income. Read more
95bFM takes a look at New Zealand's economy and work. Producer Jack Marshall speaks to Aucklander's to get their thoughts on the future of work. Read more
We just don’t know how lucky we are to live in New Zealand. In Douglas Adams’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, John Watson decided that the world had gone mad when he found instructions on the side of a packet of toothpicks. Read more
Chief Economist Dr Eric Crampton’s essay, The Outside of the Asylum is a lighthearted take and it makes a serious point. Regardless of election year shenanigans, New Zealand gets a lot of things right that other countries screw up. Read more
The thing I miss least about being in academia is the administration. I don’t mean faculty governance – it is important that academics be involved in that lest everything be taken over by the administrators. Read more
Our executive director at the New Zealand Initiative, Oliver Hartwich, has always had a strange antique monkey’s paw on his desk. I never thought much of it – perhaps a bit creepy but maybe it’s normal for Germans. Read more