Bryce is a Senior Fellow at The New Zealand Initiative, and also the Director of the Wellington-based economic consultancy firm Capital Economics. Prior to setting this up in 1997 he was a Director of, and shareholder in, First NZ Capital. Before moving into investment banking in 1985, he worked in the New Zealand Treasury, reaching the position of Director. Bryce holds a PhD in economics from the University of Canterbury and was a Harkness Fellow at Harvard University. He is a Fellow of the Law and Economics Association of New Zealand.
Bryce is available for comment on fiscal issues, our poverty, inequality and welfare research. He also has a strong background in public policy analysis including monetary policy, capital markets research and microeconomic advisory work.
Phone: +64 4 499 0790
New Zealand has long enjoyed its reputation as one of the world's most transparent and business-friendly nations. Does it deserve this reputation? Read more
Last week the government announced a comprehensive review of the country's Workplace Health and Safety regulation. There are good reasons for it to do so. Read more
Eminent New Zealander, Sir Roger Douglas has renewed his case for radical changes to fiscal policy in the last three weeks. The issues are relevant to Budget 2024. Read more
Last weekend, deeply disturbing allegations emerged that the privacy of New Zealanders’ census data was grossly violated in the lead-up to the 2023 general election. Media reports include allegations that confidential personal information collected during the 2023 census on behalf of Statistics New Zealand was illicitly copied for private benefit. Read more
If a picture contains a thousand words, this column is going to run well over our normal word limit. But the charts do say a lot, so we’ll let the charts do most of the talking. Read more
Dr Bryce Wilkinson talks to Leah Panapa on The Platform about BUdget 2023. Watch below. Read more
The Independent Review of Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities lays bare New Zealand’s housing mess. Decent housing is fundamental to wellbeing. Read more
It is fashionable to see climate as the main threat to the future quality of life of young people today. The word “climate” is commonly followed by “crisis” or “emergency”. Read more
Imagine two farmers, each with a plot of land. One farmer finds ways to make his land just 1% more productive each year - a bit better irrigation, a new crop rotation strategy, or a slight improvement in fertiliser use. Read more
The new Government’s Budget Policy Statement, released yesterday, reflects the daunting fiscal challenges inherited from the previous Labour-led Government’s tax-deficit-and-spend policies. We empathise with the current Government’s predicament, having to navigate the consequences of excessive spending, high inflation, and a recession. Read more
My research note last week highlighted a massive mystery. Between 31 March 2009 and 30 September 2023, New Zealanders spent $158 billion more overseas than we earned on current account. Read more
New Zealanders have been spending a lot more overseas than we have been earning overseas, yet our balance does not move in the same direction nearly as much. Oliver talks to Bryce about his latest research note "The mystery of the $52 billion gift: Does New Zealand have a fairy godmother?". Read more
This research note questions how New Zealand has managed to sustain its large and growing current account deficits with the rest of the world without seeing a corresponding deterioration in its net international investment position (NIIP). It highlights that while New Zealand has been spending more overseas than it earns, the country’s liabilities to the rest of the world have not increased nearly as much as one would expect. Read more
Wellington (Thursday, 14 March 2024) - A new research note by The New Zealand Initiative is questioning how New Zealand has managed to sustain its large and growing current account deficits with the rest of the world without seeing a corresponding deterioration in its net international investment position (NIIP). The research note, “The Mystery of the $52 Billion Gift: Does New Zealand have a fairy godmother?” highlights that while New Zealand has been spending more overseas than it earns, the country’s liabilities to the rest of the world have not increased nearly as much as one would expect. Read more
Two weeks ago, some of the contributors to the substantial Economic Forum run by the University of Waikato unintentionally took me back to the days of New Zealand’s National Development Conferences in 1968 and 1972. They did so by calling on central government to lead and set a clear vision and action plan. Read more