Eric is the Chief Economist at The New Zealand Initiative. With the Initiative, he has worked in policy areas ranging from freshwater management to policy for earthquake preparedness, and from local government to technology policy. He has recently focused on policy related to Covid-19 response. He served as Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in Economics at the Department of Economics & Finance at the University of Canterbury from 2003 through 2014.
Eric’s columns and commentary appear regularly in New Zealand’s major media outlets, as well as on his blog, Offsetting Behaviour. He can also be found on Twitter at @ericcrampton.
Phone: +64 4 499 0790
There is no chance it is deliberate. Deliberateness would require more coordination than government is able to manage these days. Read more
One bit of the Climate Commission’s draft advice, released in March, seemed particularly strange. The Commission worried that a surge in forest planting over the coming years would bring about a collapse in ETS prices in the 2030s and put New Zealand’s net zero commitments beyond 2050 at risk. Read more
Experimental psychology was a bit wild in the 1960s. Scientists would run experiments on beagles, giving them painful shocks. Read more
There are no silver bullets in housing and infrastructure policy. Too many separate problems compound, resulting in a severe housing shortage and some of the world’s least affordable housing. Read more
Wellington (Tuesday, 11 July 2023) – The New Zealand Initiative’s new report suggests better tools for infrastructure funding and financing. Chief economist Dr Eric Crampton argues infrastructure funding and financing are a root cause of New Zealand’s housing shortage. Read more
In this week’s podcast, Dr Eric Crampton continues his conversation with Professor Rhema Vaithianathan from Auckland University of Technology. This fascinating discussion tackles the world of data integration within social services, and critiques past failures, citing a need for real-life stories rather than cold, hard data. Read more
It’s a sad running gag that the best way for a Kiwi to get noticed at home is to be successful abroad. The keynote lecture at this year’s New Zealand Economics Association conference was downright depressing. Read more
Join us this week on the New Zealand Initiative podcast! Our host, Dr Eric Crampton chats with Professor Rhema Vaithianathan from Auckland University of Technology. Read more
The New Zealand Economics Association annual meetings are a great way of keeping abreast of what the country’s economists are working on. And sometimes they’re downright depressing. Read more
They say a week's a long time in politics. But perhaps this week is feeling longer than most for some punters as they get their wallets around various new taxes and the end of old subsidies. Read more
Sean Plunket talks to economist Eric Crampton from the New Zealand Initiative about the Green Party's proposed cap on rent rises.
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The Third Law of Demand Once you see it, you see it everywhere. Married couples who’ve left the kids home with a sitter go out to nicer restaurants than childless couples who have the same income. Read more
The right to freedom of expression is enshrined in most constitutions and is deemed to be an essential human right under international law. Yet people in many countries face restrictions on their freedom of speech and on other civil liberties. Read more
At the start of National Blood Donor Week, the New Zealand Blood Service warned that it will need more donors. According to the Blood Service’s Asuke Burge, “If we can’t meet demand, it means we are going to be forced to compete in the global market, for particularly plasma products. Read more
Election campaigns should mainly be about the policies a party would enact, if elected. But they’re also about the things a party wouldn’t do. Read more