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
The best case we can make for the Reserve Bank’s latest round of loan-to-value home mortgage regulations (LVRs) is not particularly compelling. Or, at least, it requires stretching our understanding of the bank’s prudential regulation mandate a bit farther than I’d like. Read more
Growing up in Canada, I often heard that profiting from illness was just wrong. Canada’s public health system generally banned private medicine. Read more
The idea of letting children as young as five vote on the flag referendum has been brought up in Parliament. Michael Gibson proposed the idea over a heated debate during public hearings. Read more
The idea of letting children as young as five vote on the flag referendum has been brought up in Parliament. Michael Gibson proposed the idea over a heated debate during public hearings. Read more
If we took seriously the dozens of reports tallying the alleged costs of every social ill, the world would seem a pretty depressing place. I would be surprised if the sum of high-end costs reported in studies into alcohol abuse, obesity, incontinence and mental illness were much less than annual GDP. Read more
It’s easy to get reasonable people to agree that economic growth is a good thing, at least in principle. The New Zealand Initiative hosted a panel discussion on its recent report, by Jenesa Jeram and me, outlining the case for economic growth and dispelling a few myths around growth. Read more
Apart from longer life expectancy, better health, improved education, a cleaner environment, better opportunities for our children and a happier country, what has economic growth ever done for New Zealanders? Last night, MPs Chris Bishop, Dr David Clark and James Shaw debated the merits of economic growth, and of our recent report on it, at Mac’s Brew Bar in Wellington for an audience of about 150. Read more
The idea of a currency union with New Zealand is a perennial talking point, and with the kiwi dollar drawing close to parity with the Australian dollar it might seem like there’s never been a better time. However, as Sheryle Bagwell discovers, there’s not much appetite for an Anzac dollar across the Tasman. Read more
The #eFairnessNZ campaign says it wants to level the playing field between imported goods and those bought domestically by New Zealand consumers. Because it costs more to collect the tax on lower valued goods than the tax revenues are worth, GST is not charged on imported products valued at less than $400. Read more
Sometimes, it takes a Labour leader to point out the deadweight costs of taxation. And so there is a lot to like in Andrew Little’s economic policy statement. Read more
A few things puzzle me in the rights-holders' cease and desist letter to New Zealand ISPs offering "Global Mode" services. That's likely because I am not a lawyer. Read more
Should it be illegal to be a bit of a jerk? While all but the most tragic of politics aficionados watched the Black Caps grind through a cliffhanger semifinal win against South Africa rather than watching Parliament TV, the Harmful Digital Communications Bill passed its second reading. Read more
I have never been a fan of the old prayer wishing confusion upon one’s opponents. In a real war, your enemy’s confusion helps. Read more
You all know The New Zealand Initiative as a great little think tank for a great little country. You might not know that we are also a membership organisation: our work is supported by our members. Read more