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.
Phone: +64 4 499 0790
How do you rate a secondary school's performance? For many parents the decile rating becomes the default measure. Read more
Imagine you went to your GP and received an unpleasant diagnosis. Would you want your doctor to panic in front of you, speculate that your disease might be terminal and prescribe a strong medicine? Read more
As Germany heads towards an economic slowdown, and in fact may already be in recession, calls for deficit spending and fiscal stimulus are getting louder – calls for the federal government to use the opportunity of negative interest rates to borrow and invest in infrastructure. Siemens’ CEO Joe Kaeser says so. Read more
The prospect of a new Taika Waititi movie is usually a reason for joyful anticipation. However, watching the trailer of Jojo Rabbit and reading the first reviews left me appalled. Read more
On Monday, my fellow columnist Rod Oram delivered a gloomy view of British democracy. Alarmed by Boris Johnson’s prorogation of Parliament, Rod echoed the views of those who believe the Prime Minister has chosen a most dangerous path. Read more
Before last Wednesday, I had no idea I was “brave”. Until I was told so by a delegate who had heard me speak at a large infrastructure conference. Read more
In case you missed it, the World Rugby Federation members have adopted a new code of conduct. Right in time for the 2019 World Cup, national teams have agreed on a more holistic approach to playing the game. Read more
UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has announced that he will close down Parliament until the middle of October. Oliver Hartwich spoke about this move, and what it means for Brexit, on Newstalk ZB. Read more
At the 2019 Building Nations conference, run by Infrastructure New Zealand, Dr Oliver Hartwich discusses how localism could work in New Zealand, and highlights our research on the topic.
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To reinvigorate nightlife in our cities we need to take a more modern and balanced approach, says our new report, Living after Midnight: For a better night-time environment. Executive Director Oliver Hartwich spoke to Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB to discuss how Amsterdam and Melbourne have come up with pro-active solutions that enable a thriving nightlife, and how we could do the same in New Zealand. Read more
When Germany’s statistics office released the economic growth rate for the second quarter, the disappointing 0.1 percent decline added to the troubles on Wall St. Little wonder stock markets are looking anxiously at Germany: the German economy remains the largest in Europe and the fourth largest in the world (behind only the United States, China and Japan). Read more
Our report, Living after Midnight, highlights New Zealand's antiquated way of restricting life after dark, and explains how cities such as Melbourne and Amsterdam have implemented very different, but successful, solutions to enable a thriving nightlife. The Initiative's Executive Director Oliver Hartwich spoke on Magic Talk to explains our findings in more details. Read more
Following the release of our report, Living after Midnight: For a better night-time environment, Dr Oliver Hartwich spoke to Newshub and explained how New Zealand could learn from cities such as Melbourne and Amsterdam who have implemented successful solutions to enable a thriving, and safe, nightlife - and highlighted how Sydney got it wrong. Read more
On Monday, Adrian Orr was interviewed on TV One’s Q+A programme. If you had not known that Orr is the Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, you could have mistaken him for a politician. Read more
With its rate cut on 7 August 2019, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand surprised markets and sent a strong signal that unorthodox or unconventional monetary policy could be on the cards. We argue that, especially under unconventional circumstances, predictability of the Reserve Bank is needed to retain its credibility, independence and reputation. Read more
