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 .
Submission: Transforming Recycling - Container Return Scheme (2022)
Submission: Wellington Council on the Draft Economic Wellbeing Strategy (2022)
Submission: Managing exotic afforestation incentives (2022)
Submission: The market study into residential building supplies preliminary issues paper (2022)
Submission: Issues raised at the consultation conference on the Commission's market study into the retail grocery sector draft report (2021)
Submission: Resource management enabling housing supply and other matters Amendment Bill (2021)
Submission: Covid-19 public health response Amendment Bill (no 2) (2021)
Research Note: Safer arrivals and the path to 2022 (2021)
Submission: The market study into the retail grocery sector draft report (2021)
Fording the rapids: Charting a course to fresher water (2021)
Submission: Proposals for a smokefree Aotearoa 2025 action plan (2021)
Submission: Inquiry into congestion pricing in Auckland (2021)
Policy Point: A risky place to do business (2021)
Roadmap for Recovery: Briefing to the Incoming Government (2020)
Submission: Smokefree environments and regulated products Act 1990: Proposals for regulations (2021)
Democracy in the Dark (2020)
Research Note: Safe Arrivals (2020)
Policy Point: Open for minds: export education and recovery (2020)
Submission: Smokefree environments and regulated products (vaping) Amendment Bill (2020)
Policy Point: Stay on Target (2020)
Research Note: Effective Treatment: Public policy prescription for a pandemic (2020)
Policy Point: Time to process (2020)
Scroll down to read the rest of Eric's work.
Phone: +64 4 499 0790
Our Head of Research, Dr Eric Crampton, talks to Radio New Zealand about how e-cigarettes could be used as a smoking cessation device for smokers who are looking to quit the habit. Read more
In the mid-2000s, when inflation was running hot and the Reserve Bank was having a tough time keeping things under control, the former Business Roundtable’s Roger Kerr warned that monetary policy needed mates. Government made the Reserve Bank’s job even harder by running expansionary fiscal policy when labour markets were tight and inflation was a problem. Read more
This joint report by Deloitte New Zealand and The New Zealand Initiative looks for ways that Wellington can balance earthquake readiness and sensitivity to the city’s heritage character. Read more
Heritage buildings provide real value. They are often cherished by their owners, who bought them for their character. Read more
It has now been a couple of weeks since we found out that the Overseas Investment Office was not being as thorough in its background character checks on investors as some might have wanted. Every day, I’ve been scanning the newspaper headlines, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Read more
Our Head of Research, Dr Eric Crampton, talks to Radio New Zealand about the housing crisis, and why Auckland Council needs to release more land for development. Read more
Heritage buildings help make New Zealand’s cities and towns beautiful. While foreign visitors might snicker that an eighty-year-old building has heritage value, the art deco styles in our small towns are jewels. Read more
Wellington’s heritage buildings make the city beautiful, but dangerous. This joint report by Deloitte New Zealand and The New Zealand Initiative looks for ways that Wellington can balance earthquake readiness and sensitivity to the city’s heritage character. Read more
It is bad enough when the government compulsorily acquires your house for a public purpose, like building a road or railway line. Sure, the government will hopefully pay a bit more than the going market rate for the property. Read more
Donald Trump is a demagogue and a proud ignoramus. Knowing nothing of the detail of policy, even in its broadest take, would be bad enough. Read more
Our Head of Research, Dr Eric Crampton, talks to Radio New Zealand about the effect of Mexico's sugar tax, suggesting that in order to emulate its effects New Zealand would need to impose a tax of at least $2 per litre of soda - something that not even public health researchers are proposing. Read more
Our Head of Research, Dr Eric Crampton, talks to Radio New Zealand about proposals for sugar taxes are not the silver bullets they are often made out to be. Read more
Some policies cut through logjams. Canada, a nation known for its lumberjacks and log drivers, might have found one that would break New Zealand’s refugee policy logjam. During last year’s Syrian refugee crisis – a crisis that has not yet ended – community groups, churches and Kiwis who care rallied to help. Read more
Our Head of Research, Dr Eric Crampton, talks to Radio New Zealand about sugar taxes, and why we should value individual freedom and personal responsibility. Read more
Our Head of Research, Dr Eric Crampton, talks to Katie Bradford from One News following a poll showing that a majority of New Zealanders currently support a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. CLICK HERE to view the video. Read more