Debate in the Netherlands

The Debate >> Debate in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, the debate about how to best prepare young economists for the vital role in society had been dormant for a while. But in recent years, the issue exploded again.

The student protests started with the publication of a critical opinion piece in the Financieel Dagblad. In 2015, two students of Rethinking Economics debated in the political talkshow Buitenhof with Pieter Gautier, a professor of the Free University in Amsterdam. This led to a milestone publication in the next year: the yearly bundle of the Dutch society of economists (anachronistically named the Royal Society for State Housekeeping) was fully dedicated to the topic of economics education, featuring among others pieces by Onderstal & Hollanders, Van Damme, Tieleman, De Muijnck, Kavelaars and Frankel, and Gautier. Furthermore, the journal TPEdigitaal featured discussion pieces by Onderstal & Hollanders, Vollaard, Hinloopen, Van Staveren, Mierau & Mink, Hollanders, Onderstal and Bovenberg.

Many other noteworthy contributions were made at the online discussion platform MeJudice. See for instance Frank, Van Dalen & Koedijk, Hollanders, Keizer, Tieleman, Engelen, Tieleman & De Muijnck, Velthuis, Mügge, Bähre, Derksen, Van Vugt, Nooteboom, Bovenberg, Onderstal & Hollanders and Van Staveren. National newspapers have also touched on the topic: should economics education be rebuilt?

Apart from the direct debate, in recent years the Dutch pluralism movement has produced quite a number of strong publications. Keizer wrote two books: one on lessons after the crisis and one on economic methodology, synthesizing economics, politics and psychology. Irene van Staveren wrote about Lessons from Forgotten Economists.

Of course, this is only a selection. We warmly welcome you to share your own ideas with us. If you find inspiring ideas of others, then please share that with us as well!

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