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
On RadioLIVE, Dr Eric Crampton discusses his latest report Analog Regulation, Digital Regulation. He explains how New Zealand is doing on regulating for digital innovation and opportunity, and how we can all work together to make things better. Read more
National’s supporters on the right could have been forgiven for expecting a lot after the 2008 election. After three terms of Helen Clark’s Labour government, and National’s opposition to Labour’s policies, they had a right to. Read more
The new government has suggested a $20 minimum wage in 2021, is the same as a $17.50 minimum wage today. Eric Crampton tells Mike Hosking there are already good numbers from MBIE around the effects of minimum wage increases. Read more
The new government will follow Labour's policies with immigration, the coalition agreement with NZ First has revealed. The document made public yesterday briefly outlined how the parties together would 'ensure work visas issued reflect genuine skills shortages.' There's also a promise to take 'serious action on migrant exploitation,' but didn't mention any specific number cuts, or what visa categories such cuts would come from. Read more
If no person’s life, liberty or property are safe while Parliament is in session, what’s the rush to have a new government? As I write this column, no coalition has been struck. Read more
When mathematician Stanislaw Ulam challenged Paul Samuelson to point to anything in economics that was both universally true and non-obvious, Samuelson pointed to David Ricardo’s principle of comparative advantage: Even the least productive countries still benefit from trade. Richard Thaler’s Nobel Prize is richly deserved for several substantive contributions in behavioural economics. Read more
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