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
Government spending decisions can be popular or unpopular; they can be justified and unjustified. We all like to criticise the government for unjustified spending to increase its popularity. Read more
Otto Wels. That is the name that came to my mind when I read through the Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Bill. Read more
Last week, the National Business Review reported that the New Zealand Government is considering introducing so-called land value uplift charges to finance new infrastructure projects. Papers obtained by the NBR under the Official Information Act show that the New Zealand Transport Agency and the Ministry of Transport are weighing the pros and cons of making property owners bear the costs of projects that increase the value of their land. Read more
Read The New Zealand Initiative's submission to the Tax Working Group on the Future of Tax. Read more
I have never been the greatest fan of PETA, the radical animal rights organisation (“People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals”). Don’t get me wrong, I love animals, usually medium-rare. Read more
According to Oscar Wilde’s play, Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892), “a cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.” This quip has since migrated to refer to the economics profession. It tells us much about how economics is perceived. Read more
When you are in a hole, stop drilling. That must have been the Government’s motivation for stopping oil and gas exploration. Read more
Humpty Dumpty would have fun with the Policy Targets Agreement (PTA) between Finance Minister Grant Robertson and the new governor of the Reserve Bank, Adrian Orr: “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master – that’s all.” The world of monetary economics is not quite as colourful as the characters in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. However, the governor may find himself in the role of Humpty Dumpty when interpreting his political directives. Read more
This week, the Reserve Bank finally got a new Governor. Adrian Orr, formerly chief executive of the Super Fund, replaced caretaker-governor Grant Spencer. Read more
Few countries run as much on informal relationships as New Zealand. It is both due to our small size and our aversion to hierarchies. Read more
Dr Oliver Hartwich is interviewed by Tom Switzer on the new New Zealand government and the policy challenges they face. Read more
US President Donald Trump’s new protectionism is populist, wrong and dangerous. Sadly, that does not mean that his loudest opponents can automatically claim the moral high ground. Read more
If there is one lesson from our species’ past, it is that we are not very good at thinking about the future. This is irrespective of our personal inclination toward optimism or pessimism. Read more
The excitement around the new Labour-NZ First-Green Government and National’s leadership change makes it easy to forget there is a fifth party in Parliament, too. But at last we learnt earlier this week how ACT wants to revive its fortunes. Read more
The Government's flagship policy to deliver low-cost homes to first time buyers could be a fail on the affordability front, according to its own ministry officials. Documents released under the Official Information Act reveal KiwiBuild apartments and houses to be priced up to $600,000 in Auckland could still be well out of reach of their target market. Read more