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)
Scroll down to read the rest of Oliver's work.
Phone: +64 4 499 0790
According to a quote sometimes attributed to George Orwell, “journalism is printing what someone else does not want published; everything else is public relations.” Whether Orwell actually said it or not, it is a useful definition. There are whole armies of PR and comms people trying to make you swallow their predetermined messages. Read more
Ideology rather than evidence is the basis for the Ministry of Education’s (MoE) ‘Modern Leaning Environments’, research by The New Zealand Initiative has revealed. Dr Oliver Hartwich and Dr Michael Johnston discuss the fact that a government ministry could not produce data to support its policy for mass conversion of New Zealand’s classrooms to Innovative Learning Environments (ILEs) and other findings of the Initiative’s new report, "No Evidence, No Evaluation, No Exit – Lessons from the 'Modern Learning Environments' experiment". Read more
In October 1922, a young journalist and agitator from the hard right marched to Rome to seize political power. This month, a 45-year-old former journalist with far-right leanings is also running for office in Italy. Read more
After driving through rough terrain for a long time, you finally realise you have been going in the wrong direction all along. So, what will you do: speed up, slow down, or turn around? Read more
We mourn the passing of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. Her reign was extraordinary. Read more
I have a good relationship with my parents. However, when the subject of visiting them for Christmas came up, their answer was: “You’d better not come!” In every respect, Germany is expecting a miserable winter. Read more
The New Zealand Initiative's latest report researched claims made by the Government that systemic racism is to blame for poor Māori health outcomes. It also analysed the Government’s prescription to remedy the situation by prioritising health spending for Māori, especially in Pharmac’s medicine procurement. Read more
If a workplace relations system requires armies of HR people and lawyers to work, it is too complicated. At least that was the conclusion, jointly reached by the ACTU and the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia, with the support of the Albanese government. Read more
Are Māori dying earlier because they are Māori? Do Māori lead less healthy lives because they are being discriminated against? Read more
Are Māori dying earlier because they are Māori? Do Māori lead less healthy lives because they are being discriminated against? Read more
Oliver Hartwich joins Chris Trotter and Damien Grant on The Working Groups Weekly Political Podcast hosted by Martyn Bradbury. They discuss a range of issues including: Issue 1 – State Services vs Me and the gagging of the Children’s Commissioner Issue 2 – Powell shoves US Economy down Jackson Hole – what does Adrian Orr do? Read more
Oliver Hartwich is joined by Retail NZ CEO, Greg Harford, to discuss the pressures retailers are facing in the current economic climate - crime, inflation, fair pay agreements, increasing costs of doing business, labour shortages, and Covid. To listen to our latest podcasts, please subscribe to The New Zealand Initiative podcast on iTunes, Spotify or The Podcast App. Read more
Have you heard of Leonardo's masterpiece, The Muppets' Last Supper? Or Kandinsky's colourful Swirling Music Notes? Read more
During the European sovereign debt crisis, I contributed a regular column to the Australian magazine Business Spectator. One week, I noticed a tiny bit of hope, which I wanted to write about. Read more
There is an old tradition in academia to publish a Festschrift to honour significant birthdays of eminent scholars. It is not something we do in think tank land, so we should at least celebrate Bryce Wilkinson’s 75th birthday in Insights. Read more