Henry Olsen is a Research Analyst at The New Zealand Initiative, with interests ranging from education reform and lifestyle regulation to applied microeconomics and causal inference. From the United States, Henry sharpened his interest in public policy while attending seminars, summer programs, and events at the American Enterprise Institute, the Hertog Foundation and the Brookings Institute, respectively.
He previously worked at the Institute for Justice in Washington, D.C. and the Manhattan Institute in New York, where he assisted with a wide-range of projects, such as those related to occupational licensing, abuses of eminent domain and government takings, the role of social-emotional learning in K-12 schooling, and third-party reviews for new construction during consenting processes.
Henry studied economics, mathematics, and political science at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, where he attained a First-Class Honours B.A. and finished at the top of his graduating economics cohort.
The United States celebrated its 250th birthday this weekend. Like all those who are told that their glory years are behind them, my country showcased its youth and inexperience with much rejoicing. Read more
In an age of unprecedented technological upheaval — an upheaval more consequential than even the advent of fire or settled agriculture — we find ourselves standing — quite literally — at a crossroads. The question isn't whether AI will transform writing — it’s what we lose when we let it. Read more
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single politician in possession of good polling must be in want of an election. Similarly, politicians lacking public support are wary of the electoral meatgrinder that awaits them. Read more
When were you last genuinely enthusiastic about casting your vote? Not just resigned to the least bad option, but actually excited to tick that box? Read more
Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odyssey is expected to be a big hit this winter. Closer to home, Kiwis may want to discover another perilous journey: that of at least 80,000 foreign neighbours, through cumbersome bureaucracy, to reach these shores across the wine-dark Tasman Sea. Read more