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.
Submission: A New Zealand Income Insurance Scheme (2022)
Policy Essay: Effective and affordable – Why the ETS is sufficient to deal with the climate emergency (2020)
Research Note: The Unreserved Bank of New Zealand: Why unorthodox monetary policy needs boundaries (2019)
#localismNZ: Bringing power to the people (2019)
Submission: Future of Tax (2018)
Submission: Overseas Investment Amendment Bill (2018)
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Phone: +64 4 499 0790
Last week, I wrote about why New Zealand’s cities are shrinking – and why that is a cause of concern. Cities have always been engines of prosperity. Read more
“Harder years, tough years are coming,” Frank-Walter Steinmeier told his country on Friday. At least with this warning, Germany’s Federal President was being honest. Read more
One of the megatrends of the past decades has been urbanisation. Globally, city dwellers have surpassed rural dwellers since 2007. Read more
This week marks five years since Jacinda Ardern became New Zealand’s 40th prime minister. In modern British political terms, such a period might now be referred to as an era. Read more
Most political careers end in failure, but few politicians fail as spectacularly, or as rapidly, as Liz Truss. Truss has wrecked more than her own political career since she became British Prime Minister less than two months ago: her personal reputation, her party’s credibility, and the UK’s finances. Read more
95bFM News & Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins speaks to Executive Director of The New Zealand Initiative, Dr Oliver Hartwich about Liz Truss resigning after just six weeks as UK Prime Minister. Read more
Oliver Hartwich and Eric Crampton discuss how the government is preventing overseas supermarkets from entering the New Zealand market. To listen to our latest podcasts, please subscribe to The New Zealand Initiative podcast on iTunes, Spotify or The Podcast App. Read more
The British Prime Minister received an unflattering open letter. Its signatories were 364 economists, all united in condemning her economic management. Read more
Oliver Hartwich chats with ACT’s Transport and Climate Change spokesperson Simon Court about the Clean Car Scheme and how it's adding bureaucracy, not reducing emissions. To listen to our latest podcasts, please subscribe to The New Zealand Initiative podcast on iTunes, Spotify or The Podcast App. Read more
The war in Europe is entering its most dangerous phase yet. Over the past week, we saw 300,000 Russian soldiers mobilised, scam referenda in Russian-occupied territories, and apparent bombings of the Nord Stream pipelines. Read more
In this episode Michael Johnston hosts Oliver Hartwich and Eric Crampton to discuss various European crises and how New Zealand should be learning from, and not repeating, the European mistakes. To listen to our latest podcasts, please subscribe to The New Zealand Initiative podcast on iTunes, Spotify or The Podcast App. Read more
Wellington (Wednesday, 28 September 2022) – New Zealand’s economists strongly support the Emissions Trading Scheme and strengthening it through a carbon dividend. The latest survey of members of the New Zealand Association of Economists finds extraordinarily strong agreement that: Tightening the ETS’s cap on emissions makes far more sense than measures like fuel economy standards on imported vehicles (53% strongly agree, 35% agree, 5% disagree); If additional market failures are present, policies should target those directly to reduce the cost of mitigating emissions (24% strongly agree, 57% agree, 2% strongly disagree); A carbon dividend to households beats measures like electric vehicle subsidies or targeted regulations for ensuring equity (45% strongly agree; 48% agree; 2% disagree). Read more
If you are a political reformer, New Zealand should be your oyster. You could turn around a failing education system. Read more
Having attended too many public policy conferences, it was only a matter of time until they started haunting me in my sleep. So, one night, I woke up from a nightmare. Read more
Mike Hosking from Newstalk ZB comments on Oliver Hartwich's recent Newsroom article about the possibility of Italy's most right-wing government since Mussolini. Read more