Eric Crampton: NZ Initiative Chief Economist on the report looking at the Reserve Bank's handling of Covid inflation

30/09/2025 4 min
Eric Crampton: NZ Initiative Chief Economist on the report looking at the Reserve Bank's handling of Covid inflation

Listen "Eric Crampton: NZ Initiative Chief Economist on the report looking at the Reserve Bank's handling of Covid inflation"

Episode Synopsis

The Reserve Bank has been learning lessons from its handling of the Covid pandemic.  Chief Economist Paul Conway says they now have a deeper understanding of supply shocks and the structural drivers of inflation and are better equipped for future shocks.  He says in hindsight, going earlier or harder to OCR hikes would have reduced inflation sooner.  New Zealand Initiative Chief Economist Eric Crampton told Ryan Bridge pumping money into a locked-down economy was the wrong approach.  He says it's great the Reserve Bank is recognising its mistakes now, but it would have been better if they'd recognised them earlier.  LISTEN ABOVE  The podcasts in the SME Stream contain general information only, not financial or professional advice. Any opinions expressed in the podcasts are not necessarily shared by BNZ, or its related entities. BNZ is not liable for any losses resulting from the content of the podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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