“Oliver Hartwich has written a compelling essay, Why Europe Failed. He lucidly identifies the essentially undemocratic character of much of the European project. Political elites, unaccountable to national electorates, impose decisions on tens of millions of people without any real fear of rebuke. Hartwich provides a sobering analysis of an ageing Europe, overburdened by the size of its welfare state. This gives added context to the current travails of Greece.”
Hon John Howard OM AC, July 2015

“I did hear the Hartwich interview and you introduced him by saying that he would probably offer a very different view to mine but in the end he didn’t.”
Yanis Varoufakis, Interview with ABC Late Night Live, 13 July 2015

“If there is a single book that should be placed under the Christmas tree of every Australian politician next week it is Oliver Hartwich’s Quiet Achievers: The New Zealand Path to Reform.”
Nicolle Flint, Adelaide Advertiser, 15 December 2014

“Dr Hartwich’s analysis of the Key government’s style is pertinent.”
Nevil Gibson, National Business Review, 5 December 2014

“Into the somewhat barren environment of New Zealand economic debate – which often consists of business versus unions – comes Hartwich, a precise and colourful economist with impeccable credentials and a genuine talent for upsetting people.”
Guyon Espiner, The Listener, 19 May 2012

“Excellent.” “Spot on”, “first class”, etc. All this flattering back-slapping for Oliver is getting boring. Not one dissenting voice, picking out all the holes in his argument. For example…. Damn. I can’t see any holes either. Nice work, Oliver.”
Reader comment, Business Spectator, 17 August 2011

“Oliver Hartwich, a highly talented researcher at the Centre for Independent Studies in Australia.”
Roger Kerr CNZM, Executive Director New Zealand Business Roundtable, 6 July 2011

“Let me say to Oliver: welcome to Australia. I hope you get your permanent residence. I think we all feel we need you.”
Professor Max Corden, University of Melbourne, 22 March 2011

“[T]he debate about the rights of future generations, excellently summarized recently by O. M. Hartwich, “The Rights of the Future,” Policy, Vol. 25, No. 3, 2009; I agree with him that “the very idea that there are some resources that we have borrowed from the future leads us into a logical dead-end” (p. 7). The question he raises: “Do we owe the future generations a specific set of resources? Or do we simply owe them our best efforts to leave them a free and prosperous society in which they can make their own choices?” (p. 8) is very appropriate. It is, of course, not only about resources, it is about intertemporal decision-making in general. I am also convinced that the best thing we can do now is to leave our successors a free and democratic society.”
Vaclav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic, 20 October 2010

“Oliver Hartwich is a rare bird: an economist with a sense of humour. There must be something in the water cooler at the Centre for Independent Studies.”
Michael Duffy, presenter ABC Radio National ‘Counterpoint’, 11 October 2010

“There were a handful of notable exceptions. Oliver Marc Hartwich from the Centre for Independent Studies, for example, wrote a lengthy paper in response arguing that Rudd had mischaracterised neo-liberalism. In fact, insisted Hartwich, the kind of commercial behaviour that triggered the financial crisis was caused by the abandonment of neo-liberal thought. In Hartwich’s view, neo-liberalism was actually quite close to the very thing Rudd was suggesting as a solution to the financial crisis: a middle path between rampant capitalism and communism. This was a welcome intervention, but overwhelmingly the concept of neo-liberalism itself went unexamined in a frenzy of Left/Right trench warfare.”
Waleed Aly, What’s Right?: The Future of Conservatism in Australia, The Quarterly Essay, March 2010

“A recent report by Dr Oliver Marc Hartwich and Jennifer Buckingham called On the Right Track: Why NSW Needs Business Class Rail focused on quality of service. The report, published by the Centre for Independent Studies in October this year, proposes the introduction of a new business class on intercity rail services. … I draw the attention of the House to the significant points raised.”
Greg Piper MP, 26 November 2009

“Hartwich’s intellectual-historical excursion makes worthwhile reading in the current climate.”
Dr Razeen Sally

“When Hassle Means Help is a superb assessment of welfare reform in several countries.”
Professor Lawrence M. Mead

“I would thoroughly recommend the Policy Exchange report on welfare reform. It is well worth reading.”
George Osborne MP, 14 April 2008

“This collection of essays from the British think tank Policy Exchange is an excellent defence of scientific inquiry in all of the major policy debates, and it should be on every A-level student’s reading list. … The Policy Exchange’s own enterprising polymath and co-editor Oliver Marc Hartwich rounds off the book with a valuable explanation of the science of climate change, showing the difference between the science and its interpretation. … Consensus, he says, is a concept at odds with science, which is inherently sceptical to all its provisional findings.”
James Heartfield, Spiked Online, 7 December 2006

“Policy Exchange have made a massive contribution to the debate with the excellent work by Alan Evans and Oliver Hartwich. There are some really interesting ideas here.”
David Willets MP, The Financial Times, 30 November 2005

“The very model of the good think tank publication. … It is hugely challenging – and perhaps paradigm-shifting in the conclusions. … It is also extremely well and accessibly written, and excellently produced and presented.”
Lord Andrew Adonis, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State

“Superb” … “Outstanding”
Martin Wolf, Financial Times, 23 September and 7 October 2005

“Brilliant”
Ferdinand Mount, The Daily Telegraph, 20 July 2005

“Evans and Hartwich explain why Great Britain has the ‘oldest, pokiest and at the same time costliest’ housing supply.”
Karen Horn, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 25 July 2005

“Their thesis is simple, and spicily evidenced … Robust statistics are offered to back up each answer.”
Adam Hibbert, Spiked Online, 5 July 2005

…. or loathe me.