
The coming monetary crisis in Europe
As the world approaches the end of this annus horribilis, there is a sense of relief. Not just because 2020 will soon be history but also because the economic disaster could have been so much worse. Read more
Oliver is the Executive Director of The New Zealand Initiative. Before joining the Initiative, he was a Research Fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney, the Chief Economist at Policy Exchange in London, and an advisor in the UK House of Lords. Oliver holds a Master’s degree in Economics and Business administration and a PhD in Law from Bochum University in Germany.
Oliver is available to comment on all of the Initiative’s research areas.
Latest reports:
Policy Essay: Effective and affordable – Why the ETS is sufficient to deal with the climate emergency (2020)
Research Note: The Unreserved Bank of New Zealand: Why unorthodox monetary policy needs boundaries (2019)
#localismNZ: Bringing power to the people (2019)
Submission: Future of Tax (2018)
Submission: Overseas Investment Amendment Bill (2018)
Go Swiss: Learnings from The New Zealand Initiative's visit to Switzerland (2017)
Manifesto 2017: What the next New Zealand Government should do (2017)
Why Europe Failed (2015)
Phone: +64 4 499 0790
As the world approaches the end of this annus horribilis, there is a sense of relief. Not just because 2020 will soon be history but also because the economic disaster could have been so much worse. Read more
In his latest podcast on Newstalk ZB, Leighton Smith talks to Oliver Hartwich about citizenship, the Emissions Trading Scheme, China, education, and other matters.
The New Zealand Initiative · Leighton Smith podcast with Oliver Hartwich Read more
As that great philosopher Homer Simpson once said, “Just because I don’t care doesn’t mean I don’t understand.” For climate policy debates, it is a bit different. Most people do care about cutting carbon emissions, but they still do not understand how it works. Read more
This morning, Newsroom published a story concerning a private and anonymous blog by one of our staff, Nathan Smith. Nathan joined us earlier this year from the National Business Review, where he had worked as a journalist for seven years. Read more
Thanks to the work of successive climate change ministers from David Parker to James Shaw, New Zealand has a world-leading Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). We should rely on it to drive down our carbon emissions, argues the Initiative’s executive director Dr Oliver Hartwich. Read more
When the Covid-19 crisis first struck Italy earlier this year, this column warned it might set off a chain of events that would wreck the Mediterranean country’s economy. On 10 March (A catastrophe that will cripple Italy), I pointed out that Italy would experience an economic collapse as public debt soared past 150 percent of GDP. Read more
One of the shortest jokes about economics goes like this: Teach a parrot to say supply and demand, and you have created an economist. But there is an even better joke: Teach a parrot to say demand and demand, and you have created a politician. Read more
Oliver Hartwich wrote an open letter to Mike Hosking in the NZ Herald taking aim at some of the radio host’s recent comments on housing. They discuss their different point of views in Mike’s radio show on Newstalk ZB. Read more
Dear Mike, In a country where people often hold back opinions for fear of offending others, your breakfast show is a refreshing exception. I am a fan of your clarity and boldness (though, sadly, we still haven’t met). Read more
Just a few hours into the vote count of the US Presidential election, Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša sent out a congratulatory tweet – but to the wrong president-elect. “It’s pretty clear that American people have elected @realDonaldTrump @Mike_Pence for #4moreyears,” Janša wrote. Read more
In a year of bad news, the past few weeks were a welcome exception. Pfizer’s announcement of a potentially effective Covid-19 vaccine opens a path back to normal life. Read more
In a recent interview on Newstalk ZB, prime minister Jacinda Ardern said New Zealanders coming home after Covid-19 was a major factor in record levels of home lending. Oliver Hartwich explains to Mike Hosking why it is not correct to draw a straight line from high house prices to net migration. Read more
One of the first management books I ever read was Tom Peters’ A Passion for Excellence. I must have received it in the late 1980s from a family friend. Read more
There is something special about Adele, Madonna and Sia. Because these pop divas are only ever referred to by their first names. Read more
When Odysseus sailed the treacherous waters between the monsters Scylla and Charybdis, he just had to survive. Holding onto a fig tree, Odysseus eventually made it through. Read more