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
It was a big political story last week when the Hipkins Government sacked Rob Campbell from his prominent public service roles. The statements Campbell made on LinkedIn were blatantly political. Read more
After Jacinda Ardern's resignation, New Zealand's new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins faces a challenging year ahead. The country is grappling with the devastating impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle, while cost-of-living pressures continue to rise. Read more
The sacking of Rob Campbell from his role as chair of Te Whatu Ora/Health NZ and the Environmental Protection Authority highlights an urgent need to reform New Zealand’s public service. Campbell’s partisan comments on his LinkedIn profile were inexcusable for someone in his position. Read more
The Charities Amendment Bill is currently before Parliament, but it is flawed and full of unintended consequences. As promised in the Labour Party manifesto, charities in New Zealand are demanding a proper first principles review with a better process and more public participation. Read more
When politicians talk nonsense about economics, it often goes unnoticed. This is likely both because nonsense is such a routine occurrence in democratic politics, and because many people cannot distinguish economic sense from nonsense. Read more
Few people attend business functions because of the speeches. No matter the speaker, these events are usually networking opportunities. Read more
Italy’s Prime Minister was scathing. Accusing Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy of causing the destruction of his own country, the Prime Minister swore never to meet with him. Read more
In this edition of Taxpayer Talk, the focus is on local government with guests Dr Oliver Hartwich and Callum Purves. A review into the future of local government has been commissioned but it fails to address the main issues affecting the sector, in particular the way it’s funded and what its main functions should be. Read more
Resilient infrastructure is crucial for protecting people during disasters and ensuring that communities can bounce back quickly in the aftermath of a crisis. Two powerful examples of this can be seen in New Zealand's response to the 2011 Christchurch earthquake and, more recently, Cyclone Gabrielle. Read more
A new broom sweeps clean. For Chris Hipkins, New Zealand’s new Prime Minister, this saying could not be more apt. Read more
Considering Chris Hipkins’ reputation as a policy wonk, this week’s ‘bonfire of policies’ is quite remarkable. Commentators have interpreted the Prime Minister’s clean-up as a dumping of unpopular policies ahead of the election. Read more
A lift in the minimum wage is set to have a domino effect. The Government has announced the minimum wage will rise by $1.50 to $22.70 from April. Read more
In this week's podcast we are diving into the much-anticipated policy shift announced by the country's new Prime Minister. The speculation has been building for months, with many wondering what policies will be scrapped and which ones will remain. Read more
It is hard enough to understand the Germans in the best of times. Yet, in these times of crisis and war, even a native speaker may find it difficult to comprehend them. Read more
FIRST PUBLISHED OCT 31, 2022 Updated Jan 19, 2023 It is tempting to look at the usual economic indicators when evaluating a government’s performance at the end of a Prime Minister’s run ... employment, growth, inflation, and maybe the exchange rate. Read more