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
If you want to get into New Zealand during the pandemic, it’s not that hard. The government just needs to consider you to be a priority for a scarce managed isolation space. Read more
Suppose a tear in the spacetime continuum had delivered you a copy of December quarter 2020’s employment statistics one year early. You had received the key graphs on the employment rate, the unemployment rate, labour force participation rates and underutilisation rates for the year to come – but none of the accompanying discussion. Read more
It was always possible for a lot of cars to be built in New Zealand. It never made any particular sense, but it was within the realm of the physically possible. Read more
It’s comforting to think that necessity is the mother of invention. By that account, come the time, the inventor will rise, and problems will be solved. Read more
If land use and housing regulations prevent metropolitan areas from growing up or out as demand for housing increases, there is only one avenue of adjustment left. Prices increase. Read more
Last week’s CPI figures, showing an annual inflation rate of 1.4% in the December quarter, were accompanied by a warning from the Council of Trade Unions’ economist Craig Renney. He noted that inflation hits the poor harder than other groups. Read more
Last week, the government finally released the Simpson-Roche report detailing the failures that led to August’s Covid outbreak in Auckland. Some of the failures, like inadequate testing regimes for MIQ staff and border workers, were entirely preventable. Read more
They thought banning migrant farm labour would boost wages for native-born farm workers. They were wrong. Read more
Eric Crampton joins Newstalk ZB to analyse the latest GDP figures. Read more
Canada’s carbon tax is set to rise from its current $30 per tonne ($33 NZD) to $170 per tonne ($188 NZD) by 2030. A credible price on carbon is the strongest commitment a country can make in reducing carbon emissions. Read more
Decades ago, sociologist Joel Best wrote about how to lie with statistics. The best tricks are those where a statement is word-for-word true but has nothing to do with reality. Read more
In this episode of the New Zealand Initiative podcast, Eric Crampton talks with University of Waikato economics professor John Gibson about a worrying draft report from the Productivity Commission and NZIER which suggests seasonal workers in the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme should be scaled back. If you would like to listen to our latest podcasts, please subscribe to The New Zealand Initiative podcast on iTunes, Spotify or The Podcast App. Read more
The holiday season always brings the requisite warnings about the summer road toll. Drive to the conditions, and the faster the speed, the bigger the mess. Read more
In this episode of the Initiative’s Freely Speaking podcast, Matt Burgess, Eric Crampton and Oliver Hartwich trade hypotheses on why the New Zealand housing market is so broken with a few comparisons in Europe and how a change of incentives for local councils might be a big part of the solution. If you would like to listen to our latest podcasts, please subscribe to The New Zealand Initiative podcast on iTunes, Spotify or The Podcast App. Read more
Air compressor tanks come with a maximum pressure rating. The things are built to handle pressure, but only so much. Read more