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:
#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
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. 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. Read more
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. 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. 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. 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.Orr expressed clear views not just on monetary policy but on fiscal policy as well. He urged the Government to spend more, especially on infrastructure.The two policy areas are important to each other but they are not the same. 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. Read more
When US President John F. Kennedy approved the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, he relied on advice from his staff, the defence force and the secret service. Nobody dared to voice any doubts this military attack on Cuba would be a success. Read more
Earlier this week the Reserve Bank dropped the official cash rate by 50 base points to one percent - citing slow GDP growth over the past year and declining international trade. Read more
On Wednesday 7 August, the Reserve Bank is likely to cut the OCR to a new record low of 1.25%. Kiwibank economists are already predicting that the OCR could be slashed even further to 0.75% next year. Are we on a path to negative interest rates? Read more