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
A lot of people have done well out of the past decade of interest-free student loans. But that hardly means the policy is what is right for the country. Read more
Just over a decade ago, the government stopped charging interest on student loans. Before 2006, student loan debt drew interest after the borrower left school. Read more
Minister Simon Bridges has killed a few of my favourite things. By not granting tiny, low-risk iPredict an exemption from Anti Money Laundering regulations designed for the big banks, he helped to strangle it. Read more
In politics, the good enough is the best you can usually hope for. On most policy questions, the best is irrelevant. Read more
Tax policy is usually about picking your poison. Set company taxes too high relative to international norms and firms will want to set up abroad. Read more
It is not easy to say where to pin the blame. Is it media consumers who want more and more hot-takes on the terrors of inequality? Read more
I have a solution to inequality. It will take a long time, and I don’t think you’re going to like it. Read more
Our Head of Research, Dr Eric Crampton, talks to Andrew Patterson from NBR Radio about why we need more data about student achievement and why some of the current NCEA statistics tell us very little about how well particular schools are doing. CLICK HERE to listen to the audio. Read more
If you found out your local school had a 60% NCEA level three pass rate, would you know whether you should congratulate the principal or demand a sacking? Students come to school from different starting points. Read more
Nelson’s Medical Officer of Health wants a place at your table. Not in person, of course, but in spirit. Read more
Our Head of Research, Dr Eric Crampton, appeared on Radio New Zealand to talk about the housing crisis and what steps should be taken to relive pressure on the housing market. Read more
University of Otago Associate Professor Nick Wilson argued that Disney’s classic 101 Dalmations should carry an R rating. Why? Read more
Our Head of Research, Dr Eric Crampton, talks to Radio New Zealand about how e-cigarettes could be used as a smoking cessation device for smokers who are looking to quit the habit. Read more
In the mid-2000s, when inflation was running hot and the Reserve Bank was having a tough time keeping things under control, the former Business Roundtable’s Roger Kerr warned that monetary policy needed mates. Government made the Reserve Bank’s job even harder by running expansionary fiscal policy when labour markets were tight and inflation was a problem. Read more
This joint report by Deloitte New Zealand and The New Zealand Initiative looks for ways that Wellington can balance earthquake readiness and sensitivity to the city’s heritage character. Read more