It’s all about pushing the right buttons. Wat zou het makkelijk zijn als carrière maken een kwestie was van een druk op de juiste knop. Maar zo is het niet. Zeker niet bij ons. Carrière maken bij Deloitte vraagt heel wat meer. Je moet gedreven zijn, ambitieus. Passie hebben voor je vak. En vakinhoudelijke kwaliteiten ook nog eens combineren met sociale vaardigheden. Dat is niet niks. Maar er staat ook heel wat tegenover. Je komt terecht bij een organisatie die wereldwijd werkt voor de grootste ondernemingen; en tegelijk een fors aantal nationale groeibriljantjes bedient. Een organisatie die jonge professionals volop carrièrekansen biedt en hen helpt hun kwaliteiten steeds verder te ontwikkelen. Of het nu gaat om vakinhoudelijke of persoonlijke groei. Ben je bereid te investeren in je toekomst, dan vind je vanzelf de weg omhoog. En dan kan het hard gaan ook, right to the top. Kijk op www.treasuringtalent.com en zie hoe Deloitte je carrière de juiste push geeft.
TreasuringTalent.com
right
Content & Colofon From the Editor-in-Chief
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From the Chairman
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Agenda
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Æcu
8
CVA
9
Educational Affairs
10
Action - Reaction
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Deadlines
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Boekenstichting ECU
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Chaos
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Photopage - Poker
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Werken bij... KPMG
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Photopage
20/21
Review- Company Day
22/23
The Economics of Ron Paul
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For whom the bell tolls
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Reflections of a Denversaurus
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Final Say
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Five times a year The Ecunomist is published in a circulation of 1500 for the members, patrons, Æcunomen and external contacts of ECU'92. Once a year The Ecunomist is published in a circulation of 2500, combined with the Company Day brochure. Published By: Studievereniging ECU'92 Janskerkhof 12 3512 BL Utrecht Tel.: 030-253 9680 E-mail: info@ecu92.nl Internet: www.ecu92.nl Editor-in-chief: Gert-Jan Bes Editors: Gert-Jan Bes Joris Hehenkamp Ian Koetsier Joël Kroodsma Elena Meshcheryakova Lizzy Ansingh Graphic Design: Joris Hehenkamp Printed By: Hakker van Rooijen Special Thanks To: ECU'92 Board Y.S. Brenner Klaas Damstra © Study Association ECU'92 The copying of articles is permitted provided that the source is stated.
fltr: Ian, Gert-Jan, Joris not on picture: various editors
The Ecunomist - Annual Volume 17, Edition 2 - Januari 2008
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From the editor-in-chief
“No matter what the crisis…” Gert-Jan Bes – At the moment of writing this article the Christmas holiday is just over. Everyone has wished each other the best for the new year, the Christmas and New Years dinners have been digested and 2008 has begun! In this first edition of the Ecunomist we take a look at the subject of crisis in a number of articles. when the end of a course and with it its exam approaches.
Joris’ article about deadlines is completed in this edition. Every student faces a number of crisis during his student life. Deadlines form a large cause for these causes. Every paper, every research will at a moment in time reach a deadline in which it has to be handed in. For most students this approaching deadline leads to lots of tension and stress. Personally, I need those deadlines to get to work. Without a set deadline for a paper there always pops up other tasks or things to do. The paper gets postponed and postponed until a strict deadline comes into reach and I have to do it. So although deadlines can cause quite some crisis when they are approaching, they form an excellent ‘outside motivation’ to get myself to get into action. You will receive this Ecunomist during or just after the exam week. I hope this week has passed for you without crisis. There are lots of moments in such weeks which can lead to difficulties. Have I learned everything that is necessary for the exam? Why didn’t I buy the reader for this course? At what location is this exam actually taken? These are just a few questions which can lead to sleepless nights and panic
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As a board member I also can’t avoid a crisis now and then. For example when I returned from my Christmas holiday on Monday I organized, together with Ernst, the New Year’s dinner for our active members. I was responsible for everything we would eat that evening; meat, bread and salads. Before the Christmas break I regularly called a butcher, discussed prices with him, and probably forgot to make the order definitive. That, or some internal communication at the butcher’s shop went wrong. Whatever happened, when I called at 13.00 on Monday afternoon to check the delivery of my order for the evening no food was being prepared… So there were about 4 hours left to arrange food for 75 hungry people. Luckily for me I found a wholesale company which was able to arrange everything for me by the end of the day (even at a cheaper price). If you think the crisis you encounter during your life as a student or as an inhabitant of the Netherlands are too overwhelming or even unfair to you make sure to read Elena’s article. She takes a look at death, its causes and the current crisis zones in the world. This will surely give you a perspective on your own crisis.
The Ecunomist - Annual Volume 17, Edition 2 - Januari 2008
From the chairman
The downsides Thijs Weistra - The last time I wrote to you, I was still dazed by the new opportunities we got, the energetic world that had opened for us, the new perspectives we learned to see, the new light our new job has shed on this university and the life after university. But it isn’t only fun of course. There are also downsides to these adventurous lives. Have you considered the amount of hangovers that we have to cope with, after all the great parties we have to visit as part of our jobs? You might think it is just partying, but the duty to build networks of friends weighs heavily upon us. You wouldn’t want your board that represents you, to be known as quitters, would you? So we party on your behalf until we cannot longer stand on our feet. Then there are all the fancy dinners we have to visit. Going out for dinner with committees, other boards or just because we don’t feel like cooking is a tough job. After a while, you have tried every meal on the menu, you know all the restaurants and you can no longer anonymously enter any bar. Than there are the more fancy dinners with, for example, all the employees of the Utrecht School of Economics, where you have to eat so much delicious food and drink the same amount of wine without getting too enthusiastic. Can you imagine the pain of over-stuffed tummies?
have to continue some friendships after this year, all because of ECU’92’s reputation. But to get a bit more serious: after the first few months we really actually got to work which turned out to be more challenging but also more fun than expected. We refurnished the rooms with new computers and some filing cupboards. We can look back at a very successful company day, an international Sinterklaas-evening with a real Sinterklaas, a very cool party in ‘Holland Style’, a job interview training for master students, a visit to the recordings of a show of Claudia de Breij and so much more! All to the work of all our active members. We celebrated this at the first activity of this year with a new years dinner with the majority of these people, which was a great success with even a Karaoke-BOMB to continue the party a bit longer. And there are still so many more activities scheduled. As there is a weekend organized by the activity committee, a study trip to Morocco, a congress, an alumni-cabaret and many more.
Then there are of course the board excursions. Not just for fun, but to improve our team-mentality. Learning snowboarding and skiing is, of course, a necessary thing to achieve that goal. It took us about a week before all the bruises and sore muscles had healed. And what do you think about the embarrassing pictures that will be shown to too many people. We do it all, so we can run the association for you! Than there is the amount of people that we have to call ‘friends’, because we need to establish a network on behalf of the association. It is impossible to memorize all faces and names. Not an easy task and we might even
To conclude, I would like to say that the board is looking forward to the rest of this year. With so many successes and so much fun in the first few months, the rest of the year looks very promising. I hope to see you all at activities, parties or just visiting us in the ECU’92 rooms!
The Ecunomist - Annual Volume 17, Edition 2 - Januari 2008
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7ERKEN AAN VERTROUWEN
Agenda 1, 4 and 5 February: Book sale period 3 In cooperation with New Bricks, Boekenstichting ECU will organize a book sale for the third period of this academic year. Students who have ordered their books in the online shop can buy their books on 1st, 4th and 5th February from 10.00h until 16.00h. On Wednesday 5th February from 13.00h until 16.00h left-overs will be sold according to the free-sale format: first come, first served! The book sale will be held in the canteen of the Ubuilding at University College. For more information please send an e-mail to education@ecu92.nl. 4 February: B.O.M.B. On Monday the 4th of February ECU’92 will organize it’s monthly B.O.M.B. Off course all members are invited to come and have a drink with the board and each other. What’s better then socializing with your fellow students on a Monday night? Hope to see you on the 4th of February, 21.30hr at the Nieuwe Dikke Dries! 14 February: ECU’92 party: Valentine On February 14th the Relaxcie will organize the 2nd ECU party of the year. Because it is Valentine’s Day there will be a photographer and a nice romantic decoration. The dress code is red. Location and times will be announced on the posters and website. 22-24 February: AC Weekend The Activities Committee organizes a relaxing weekend at the end of February. For this weekend we will travel to the south of the Netherlands to picturesque Venray. During the weekend a number of activities will be undertaken. During the Saturday afternoon a big activity will be organized (keep an eye out for the posters) and at night we will go partying in the Zenith.
3 March: Movie Night + B.O.M.B. Another integration project of the English Committee: Watch a movie together with your fellow students. Most probably a Dutch movie with English subtitles. Great to make new friends, integrate in the Dutch culture and have a lot of drinks afterwards at the B.O.M.B. For more information: look out for the posters and visit our website regularly. 11 March: ECU ’92 Conference On the 11th of March, ECU’92 will organize it’s yearly conference in the Academiegebouw of Utrecht University. The theme of the conference this year will be ‘Emerging economies: the challenges of Eastern Europe’. This theme will come back in the lectures, workshops and the panel discussion arranged during this day. Speakers during the conference will be Manfred Scheepers, who is Vice President Finance of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Henk Voskamp, who is Director of the Department Southeast and Eastern Europe of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Hans van Mierlo, who is Professor in Public Finance at Maastricht University. More information about the conference will follow soon! 14-15 March: Buitex In March the AC will take you on a trip to a city just over the Dutch border. Which city exactly? This still has to be decided… A serious activity will be undertaken during the two days, we will stay for 1 night in a hostel and at night we will go partying. More information will be published on the posters. 18 March: General Meeting: Presentation of the semester report Come help us evaluate the first half year of ECU’92. Criticize or compliment our achievements of the first months and our new plans for the upcoming months. More information will be announced on our website.
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Æcu
Dear Æcunomen, Jouke Donselaar - In this edition I will keep you up-to-date about the alumni committee, activities, and a task force for the Stichting Economics Network Utrecht. In the preceding edition of the Ecunomist, I told you that the alumni committee was left with only two members. After writing that, also Jacqueline Verhaegen decided not to continue her work in the committee. Fortunately, some fresh blood was there to continue the work for the committee. Juliette Kuiken, Folkert van Wier and Martine de Groot are the new members, who are elaborately introduced to you in the alumni newsletter of November. This newsletter was a special edition, with a list of all the graduated students of September and October, and was sent to more than 600 former students of the Utrecht School of Economics and ECU’92. The first activity organised by the alumni committee was the quarterly alumni drink, held on November 30th. Unfortunately, the attendance was very low this evening. This was also the issue on preceding drinks, so we decided not to continue organising these drinks anymore. Apparently these drinks are not really the thing you are looking for as an alumnus. Off course the biggest alumni event of the year, the cabaret, will still be organised. The committee is already busy with casting talented cabaret artists all around the country, at festivals, comedy cafes and so on. I am sure they will spot the right talent, and your evening will be great then. More info will off course be in the alumni newsletter and in a special mailing which you will receive in the weeks before the cabaret. Instead of the quarterly drinks, we will look for an opportunity to organise an event something bigger, like the cabaret, later in the year. The most important targeting group for these kind of events is you, Æcunomen, as former active members of ECU’92. For me, this means that I will listen to your wishes for such an event, so
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please let me know what you want! Do this by e-mailing, calling or sending smoke signals in the direction of ECU’92. By listening to your wishes, I hope we will organise something that will attract you Æcunomen, as being the most important alumni group of ECU’92. When you have read this page the last two years, you know that we are cooperating with the Utrecht School of Economics in a foundation, called the Stichting Economics Network Utrecht (SENU). To put more emphasis on the alumni, a small task force is formed by the board of the USE, in which ECU’92 also has taken place. This task force will give some advises to the SENU, and will make plans for activities so that the foundation will finally really get started. You will definitely hear more on this topic! Kind Regards, Jouke Donselaar Secretary h.t. 2007-2008 PS: If you read this, and you are wondering what Æcunomen really are, here is the answer: it is your opportunity to keep supporting ECU’92 after you have graduated. By doing this, you will receive the Ecunomist five times a year and also the quarterly alumni newsletter. If you want to sign up as an Æcunoom, you can send an e-mail to me at secretaris@ecu92.nl.
The Ecunomist - Annual Volume 17, Edition 2 - Januari 2008
Article
College Van Advies - CVA Klaas Damstra - The Advisory Board. A possibly completely unknown species of life to most readers. And therefore we will make a short introduction in this Ecunomist. A short operation manual of this device: what is it, who are they, what do they do, and why do we have this organ anyway? Sometimes organisations can be just like a human body; there are a lot of organs, and from some of them you don't even know why they are there. Still, they have a function that makes your life possible, or sometimes more comfortable. The advisory board is also such an organ. Maybe not the one catching the eye most, but important in controlling the many functions of the association, and giving signs when things may go wrong. So, what is this advisory board? An official part of ECU'92, but not a committee. It does not organize anything, but still it's clearly present at general meetings. What gives them the right is their position as official advisory organ for the board and all members, whether they ask for it or not. Good advice requieres experienced people to be asked to join. So now you know why they look so old sometimes.. To be well informed, the Advisory Board has regular monthly meetings with the board, and special meetings concerning important decisions at general meetings. Both short-term business and long-term policy are discussed there. The discussions also involve the procedure of applying for the board. The Advisory Board is present to make sure that everything is done in a proper way and everyone has an equal chance in applying (without having any decisive discretions). The Advisory Board is also (partly) present at most activities, to know what is going on, to know what is on all of your minds, and not at least to still enjoy ourselves. The main role of the Advisory board is however the function of soundboard to the board. For all members, the ECU'92-room is a warm place of refugee, and to get advise, but the board also needs one sometimes, and that's what we hope to provide.. Now you know what they do, it's time to pre-
sent them. For 2007/2008, the following people have the honor to be in the Advisory Board: Chairman is Rienk Prins. A handsome young man who cannot get enough of studying, and ECU'92 reaps the benefits. As past active member in the activity committee, the discussionsand lecture committee and the introduction committee, his expertise is quite impressive. Combined with his omnipresence at activities, we have the captain of our ship. The writer of this article, Klaas Damstra, is also a member. He is the specialist in educational affairs, not in the last place because of his function as coordinator education in the ECU'92 Board 2005/2006. From the same famous year is the former secretary, Elias Hermans. This smart guy knows how to shuffle the cards and play the game of governing a students association. The next man combines a large vocabulary, brains, and committee experience to give proper advice: Harmen Peters. Another ambitious man with a golden mouth and experience as former chairman, or better: president, is Kasper Stuijvenberg, also from the board 2005/2006. Are there only wise men then? Definitely not. Lianne Janssen (Internal affairs 2004/2005) brings in the most experience in the advisory board, and last but not least there is Selma van Westen (External affairs 2006/2007). With her experience in everything concerning external affairs, she is the missing piece of the puzzle that makes it complete. Everything is said and done now. Now you know who this bunch of dinosaurs are. Is it a vital organ, without which life would be impossible? Probably not, but it makes the life of ECU'92 certainly more comfortable and safe.
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Educational Affairs
And the winner is… Petra Helming - All votes are counted, it is time to announce the winners of the Young Economics Teaching Talent Award and the Economics Teacher Award of the year 20072008. The bachelor and master students of the Utrecht School of Economics (USE) have elected the most promising young economics teacher of the subfaculty and their favourite economics teacher. It is an honour to present the winning teacher in the first category. The Young Economics Teaching Award 2007-2008 goes to… dr. Claire Economidou! It is the third year in a row Claire Economidou receives this award for most promising young economics teacher of the USE. Students praise her involvement, enthusiasm and her way of motivating students even for the most difficult courses in the curriculum. Claire Economidou uses her own international experience to stimulate intercultural communication on economic subjects between students. Her devotion to impart an intuition for economic reasoning to students is exceptional. All these qualities make Claire Economidou a respected enrichment for the teaching staff of the USE. In the second category, students have chosen the best economics teacher of the Utrecht School of Economics. This year the winner of the Award is… dr. Utz Weitzel! For many of you this will not be a surprise. Utz Weitzel knows how to combine
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his scientific knowledge, practical experience and humor into one. With his presentation skills and innovative teaching methods he succeeds in keeping students’ attention. With his interactive lectures and tutorials with real-life business cases Utz Weitzel clearly distinguishes himself from other teachers at the USE. Both winners of the Utrecht School of Economics will be proposed for the general Young Teaching Talent Award and the Best Teacher Award of the Utrecht University. The final poll will be declared on 5th March 2008 during the Education Parade, while the actual prize giving will take place on 26th March 2008 (during Utrecht University’s Dies). Let us all keep our fingers crosses and hope that the Utrecht University will take over students’ appreciation for Claire Economidou and Utz Weitzel! Let your voice be heard! In addition to the news on the Teaching Awards I have some other important news for you. Ever felt displeased about a bachelor course? Hatching an idea to improve the minor programs? Are you dissatisfied about the new bachelor curriculum? Or do you have any suggestions for organising mentorship at the Utrecht School of Economics? Let us hear from you at the Education Debate!
The Ecunomist - Annual Volume 17, Edition 2 - Januari 2008
Education
Action - Reaction
Education Means ess in s u B Florian Kratke: Could it
On Wednesday 20th February 2008 you will get the opportunity to let your voice be heard on the large-scale Education Debate. The Education Committee, Discussion and Lecture Committee and English Committee are preparing this evening full of discussions about educational topics. All students as well as staff members of the USE will be invited. So take this chance and mark this date in your agenda! (More information on the exact times, location, panel members and topics can be found on the posters at University College)
Petra Helming Coordinator Educational Affairs ECU’92 board 2007-2008
be? Could all those students and tutors walk around unchecked and unobserved, oblivious to the complex workings of their own educational system? Surely, this is madness! Of course it is – therefore, since the founding of the bachelor programme there has been an Education Committee; a group of four students and four tutors who have taken it upon themselves to be permanently constructively critical about the education here at the Utrecht School of Economics. We strive to assure you the quality of your education and to keep improving USE over the years. To this end, there are several tasks we formally fulfil. You know those evaluation forms you get at the end of each course, that always take you longer to fill out than you estimate? Yeah, we check the results of those evaluations plus the tutors response to them (you can find part of the results on WebCT in the folder ‘Course evaluations’), after which we report to the Board of the Undergraduate School. Next to that, it is our task to review the rules and regulations of what is and isn’t allowed at our faculty – the rulebook gets updated each year and should be closely watched. To read up on these Education Regulations, see the homepage (www.econ.uu.nl) under References (‘Naslag’). Yet our tasks are not limited to these two points. Several times per year, we meet with the Board of the Undergraduate School to discuss various topics on the education at USE. There we do our best to improve the overall quality of the education by conveying both the students’ and tutors’ point of view towards the Board and giving our own advice. Besides these
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Action - Reaction
meetings, we have enough time to observe the bachelor programme from a distance, point out any problems and see how we can improve on them. This year, for example, we are working on improving the mentorship programme, the offer of internships at USE and the way your courses get evaluated. Alongside this, many developments take place every year in our programme – some of you are enjoying the new first-years required curriculum as we speak, and next year the major-related electives are set to change.
UCU hallways. Being part of a student feedback group like the Education Committee means we have a lot of general knowledge about rules, requirements, regulations, courses, contacts and solutions; you need only ask a question. For student feedback to work it is essential that we try to involve students as much as possible. Sure, we can form a general opinion about students and we are there to speak for you, but it’s always better to know what students are thinking exactly. This requires us to talk and listen with equal interest, inform as well as be informed, and for that, we need you as much as you need us. Elsewhere in this issue, you will find a short piece on the upand-coming Education Debate – a prime example of how you can express yourself directly towards the people in power at USE and make it count. Until then, you can at least count on us. If you have any questions or comments, please mail to: bacheloroc@econ.uu.nl ke@gmail.com
So we try to remain flexible. Problems and small imperfections can be spotted everywhere, and it is due to our vigilance that they, hopefully, are weeded out. Part of our philosophy which we always try to communicate to students is that, as a student at USE, you are not powerless when it comes to educational matters. You are well represented by fellow students in the ECU’92 Board, in the Education Committee for both the bachelors and masters, and in the Sub-Faculty Council. These contacts will listen to your complaints, process them and keep you informed on developments in your education – they are your voice within USE. We are always approachable – look for our stylish red shirts around the
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floriankrat-
“We fight for you”
The Ecunomist - Annual Volume 17, Edition 2 - Januari 2008
Science - Continue
Deadlines Joris Hehenkamp & Sander Bijvank - Dit artikel is in twee stukken gesplitst, hier leest u het einde van het artikel. In editie 1, 2007/ 2008, kan het eerste deel van het artikel terug gevonden worden. Een volgende toevoeging aan de discussie omtrent deadlines verdient eveneens aandacht. Is het misschien zo sommige dingen gewoon ‘gedaan moeten worden’? Dus los van ‘liever lui dan moe’ en ‘buiten de cruciale activiteiten’; zijn er misschien zaken die gedaan horen te worden en die simpelweg niet als prettig worden ervaren, waardoor ze voor stress kunnen zorgen? Het verzadigen van de basisbehoeften is noodzakelijk en niet altijd prettig. De leeuw heeft niet altijd zin om te jagen. Liever doet hij nog een dutje. Dus soms moet je gewoon een deadline halen, omdat het niet-halen ervan nog erger is. Dan rijst natuurlijk de vraag: doe je wel wat je wil doen, als je in situaties als deze verzeilt raakt? Je kan zeggen dat de leeuw natuurlijk zin heeft om te jagen als hij echt honger heeft, in tegenstelling tot een leeuw die noodgedwongen activiteiten onderneemt (zoals jagen). Dit verschilt waarschijnlijk per situatie.
maar eens op zoek gaan naar een andere baan. En hoewel minder dringend, gebeuren deze zaken niet vanzelf en zorgen ze op hun beurt ook weer voor een soort druk (mogelijk in de vorm van deadlines). Los van deze zaken zou het slim zijn om te zorgen dat de volgende deadline niet weer zorgt voor pressie. Maar ja, als er net een is gepasseerd, dan wil je wel even rustig aan doen. Tijdens dit rustig aan doen verval je als mens echter helaas al snel in bezigheden die onbelangrijk zijn op de lange termijn, maar schijnbaar nodig of wenselijk op de korte termijn. Wat heeft dit voor gevolgen voor de toekomst? Het begrip deadline lijkt vervlochten met de maatschappij anno 2007. Toenemende internationale handel zorgt voor toenemende concurrentie; het bedrijf dat volgens het strakste schema opereert haalt de orders binnen. Om in de bedrijfsmatige trend te antwoorden: voordat je een probleem (bijvoorbeeld een prijsverlaging van een concurrent) kan oplossen heb je achtereenvolgens awareness (op de hoogte zijn van), motivation en ability (de mogelijkheid om, kunde) nodig om te kunnen reageren. Dit stuk vormt een aanleiding om het eigen gedrag omtrent deadlines eens te analyseren. • •
Het woord deadline heeft veel overeenkomsten met het woord moeten. Beiden leggen een druk op het lijdend voorwerp. Beiden ontnemen een stukje vrijheid, waardoor de ermee verbonden activiteiten worden gemeden. Op het moment dat de consequenties van dit vrije gedrag echter in zicht komen, op de korte termijn dus, dan is het ineens minder makkelijk om er rustig onder te blijven. Maar als je vrij kan leven naar je deadline toe, en je dan op het laatst nog even aan de bak kan, dan lijkt er een balans van in- en ontspanning. Toch wringt daar de schoen. De cyclus ís niet in balans. Mensen leven van deadline naar deadline, en durven in de tussentijd niet echt op adem te komen en de aandacht te richten op de zaken die minder dringend zijn. Zoals de naderende vakantie, of deelname aan die leuke fotografiecursus, of misschien toch
• •
Zorgen deadlines voor stress, plan ik goed? Ben ik liever lui dan moe, of neem ik teveel hooi op mijn vork? Neem ik af en toe het overzicht? En denk ik wel eens aan de lange termijn?
Van daaruit volgt mogelijke de motivatie om dit gedrag te veranderen. Doe ik wel wat ik wil doen? En dan treedt het begrip ability naar voren: wat kan (en wil!) ik eraan doen? Acties kunnen tot een verschuiving van de dagelijkse activiteiten en dus de structuur van je leven leiden, wat zorgt voor een (tijdelijk) gevoel van (niet-fysieke) onveiligheid. Maar op de lange termijn kan de combinatie van kennis van de menselijke basisbehoeften en de persoonlijke ervaring, na een mogelijk onrustig bewustwordingsproces, leiden naar een rustiger, stresslozer leven. Met minder deadlines…?
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Article
Boekenstichting ECU SECU - There is something that you readers should be informed about. Selling books is the toughest job around in all ECU’92 combined! Therefore, we are not a committee of ECU’92, but we are an independent legal organization, here to help you out; the students. That’s what we do it all for: you guys. The theory that we stand stronger united is the basic idea behind this committee. This way we can outplay firms against each other in order to give you low prices. What we do all year is search for the books that the teachers want the students to buy, get them at a decent number taking the orders into account. After that we have to sell them and handle the turnover to our supplier and some to ECU’92. Because we have no incentive to make profits keeps the prices low. Plus we have good contacts within the Utrecht School of Economics, and especially with the teachers. This way, we make sure that all information concerning your books is nicely organized and that you don’t have to worry too much about where to get them. Also, as we are students ourselves, we think like students and we (think we) know what is best for you. Also we are very easily contacted and well prepared to listen to your problems. The Chairman is Martien Lamers. It is his job to keep the order around in the meeting rooms, and to stay focused on the big puzzle; he makes sure that all pieces stay at the right place. He suffers severely from this hard and responsible task, but nevertheless he makes time to finish his master at USE and attend nearly all ECU activities. Second behind the Chairman is the Secretary, the writer of this masterpiece. He shall describe himself in the 3rd person to give
you the feeling that there is a voice-over telling you this story. Anyway, he is mostly laid back during meetings, and is always modest. The Treasurer is the always cheering Ellen Aalbers. This girl from the country is very direct in her approach, and when she has set her goals, there is nothing that can stop her. Also she is the person in this committee that has by far the highest quote rate. As the Coordinator Promotional Affairs there is Coos Santing. This former board member of ECU’92 is now enjoying an easy job, in spite of his attempts to reorganize the poster making process, what blatantly failed. The only things that this mr. Luvaluva has had less success in than his ECU’92 career, are his attempts with the ladies. To guide this bunch of charming personalities is the Coordinator Educational Affairs from the ECU’92 board, Petra Helming. It is up to her to keep the committee from insulting each other, staying way too long at parties and to keep Coos from humiliating himself in front of the ladies. A difficult, yet not impossible task as you all can see. Wait. Anyway, now you know that there is more behind just buying your books at ECU’92. Remember that we do this entirely for your comfort, and especially to give you, the students, the opportunity to buy your books without all the fee’s that websites and other bookshops charge you. Remember that as long as this committee has existed, that ECU’92 has given you the lowest price as possible. We do this purely voluntarily for your service, so if something (but how?!?) goes wrong, give us some space to work, as we are one of you. And if you are feeling generous, give Coos a sweet little kiss on the cheek. Good day! Folkert van Wier Secretary Boekenstichting ECU The next book sale is at 1, 4 and 5 February at UCU room 15a.For any more info go to www.ecu92.nl or mail onderwijs@ecu92.nl
The Ecunomist - Annual Volume 17, Edition 2 - Januari 2008
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Kopje
Chaos Ernst ... - In this second edition of the Ecunomist this year I have the honour to write something about a topic that very much interests me. This might be dangerous, because it could be possible that readers of this magazine do not have the same interests as I have. But, while this topic is related to economics and a bit controversial anyway; this should work out fine. During my last study period (which is already half a year ago) I followed the course Economic Methodology. It teaches you to look critically at all aspects of economic analysis. Different phenomena which might influence or even determine economic behaviour are closely examined. These aspects are often found in other fields than economics, which makes sense when we come to think about it. If the world would be economic only, why should we have friends for social matters or go on holidays while working would earn us money? (Of course these phenomena can be approached from an economic point of view, but they are definitely not pure economical). It’s of course quite obvious that our world is not economic only, it’s much more. I would even like to say that it’s so much more that we don’t even know how much more it is! For getting to know what influences the world and our daily life, we should therefore look outside the field of economics. This is something we in Utrecht are very common with; multidisciplinary research. Therefore, in this article I would like to address a phenomenon that’s originally found in way different fields of science than economics. But, as true multidisciplinary researchers we should of course look at this phenomenon when this might be relevant for economics as well. The thing I want to talk about in this article is something what researchers in other fields as economics have found during the 1970’s and is
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called chaos. Well, you might probably say; chaos? I find that in my room as well when I come home, what do you mean with it? I’ll explain. Chaos is not at all what you think it is when you only know this word from common language. In common language it stands for a mess, for something that’s disorganized and in which no order can be found. In academic science however, chaos stands for something different. Chaos is a system of … As scientists one of the things we do is studying the behaviour of variables. We tend to look at trends in the behaviour of variables and the relationships between variables. Sometimes we find an order or causal relationship during our research. The behaviour of these variables is normally written in a formula that best fits the trend and normally we use that to predict the future outcomes of these variables. Right now we are coming to the essence of chaos and I hope you’ll see it. As economists we normally try to use linear formulas. These formulas are convenient for our analysis; they’re not to difficult. When we use these formulas we actually create static, mechanistic systems. What do I mean with that? Well, these formulas do not take the element of time in to account. No matter at what point in time you change a variable, the outcome will always be the same. When I come to think about this, this happening seems very odd. But, it does show why we as economists use the ceteris paribus clause. Everything else constant, the effect must be the same. But, if only the moment of time differs, the effect might be slightly different. So, actually we conduct analysis according to the assumptions we make (even though these assumptions might be very unrealistic).
The Ecunomist - Annual Volume 17, Edition 2 - Januari 2008
Photopage - Poker
The Ecunomist - Annual Volume 17, Edition 2 - Januari 2008
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Working at...
Juliette Kuiken & Robin Coers – Op een gure decembermaandag reizen we per bus af naar bedrijventerrein De Meern. Na enige discussie of deze plaats wel of niet nog bij Utrecht hoort, stappen we uit de bus en lopen tussen de ongezellige kantoorflats van vooraanstaande bedrijven door op zoek naar het bekende logo. De KPMG vlag is het eerste punt van herkenning van onze bestemming. Vandaag interviewen we een oud-USE-student, Mark Gronsma. Hij is werkzaam bij de Audit, de accountancy afdeling van KPMG. Nu, in de functie van trainee combineert hij werk met een studie op Nijenrode, geheel gefinancierd door zijn werkgever. Uit het gesprek blijkt dat KPMG ruim investeert in de scholing van haar werknemers. Er is een jaarlijkse cursusweek en iedere werknemer heeft een bepaald budget om vakken te volgen die aansluiten bij zijn of haar werk. Voor wat hoort wat, zou je zeggen, maar het is niet zo dat er een lang contract ondertekend moet worden. Arbeidscontracten zijn bij aankomst voor één jaar en daarna voor onbepaalde tijd. Er is een hoog verloop onder werknemers, veertien procent stroomt per jaar door naar een ander bedrijf. Mark vertelt dat dit een gemiddeld percentage is in de accountancy wereld. De werkdruk is hoog en je kan makkelijk ergens anders aan de slag als je eenmaal je RA (Register Accountant) titel hebt. Ook is de ervaring en kennis die je opgedaan hebt iets wat bij andere bedrijven een grote pré is. Omdat je veel bij de klanten komt, leren ze jou ook kennen en kan het soms voorkomen dat je een aanbod krijgt. Er is ook de mogelijkheid om, zodra je de RA titel hebt, voor 1 of 2 jaar in een buitenlandse vestiging van KPMG te werken. Omdat KPMG in heel veel verschillende landen over de wereld zit is hier ruime keuze in. Toch blijft het bedrijf zijn vorm met locale vertakkingen in ieder geval de komende tijd nog houden, een geplande fusie tussen de Europese takken is voorlopig nog even vooruitgeschoven in overleg met de partners.
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Al snel kwamen we tot de ultieme vraag van onze kant, hoe zit het met de Utrechtse studenten binnen het bedrijf? Onze faculteit staat immers niet bekend om haar bedrijfskundige kant, iets waar zeker bij de audit divisie wel behoefte aan is. Toch bleek dit geen obstakel te zijn volgens Mark had hij de minor Rechten gedaan en waren de bedrijfseconomische vakken altijd wel interessant. Deze basis bleek nu erg nuttig. Ook blijken er zelfs studenten Rechten en Psychologie werkzaam te zijn. Mark: “Je hebt al een goede basis met je analytische vaardigheden van een universitaire opleiding en zal dus snel dingen oppikken.” Er is dus meer mogelijk en je kan blijven doorleren. Na HBO en WO kom je binnenstromen als trainee. Je begint dan als het ware aan je opleiding om register accountant te worden, dit duurt ongeveer 4 jaar. Afhankelijk van je ambities kan je daarna vollop doorstromen binnen het bedrijf. Ook belangrijk voor ons, hoe zit het met scriptie en stage mogelijkheden? “Ik heb hier zelf geen gebruik van gemaakt, maar ik weet dat hier meerdere studenten komen voor een scrip-
The Ecunomist - Annual Volume 17, Edition 2 - Januari 2008
Working at... tieonderzoek, zolang het maar te maken heeft met iets dat KPMG raakt”, aldus Mark. Daarnaast kan je jezelf opgeven voor meeloopdagen. “Het beste is om een e-mail te sturen met je wensen”. Klinkt simpel. Ten tijde van de huidige krappe arbeidsmarkt organiseert KPMG van alles om studenten te trekken: vertegenwoordiging op beurzen, meeloopdagen, inhouse dagen, etiquettediner etc. Dat het bedrijf hier ook goed in slaagt blijkt uit de tweede achtereenvolgende nominatie voor werkgever van het jaar, samen met onder andere Fortis en Nuon. Waarom is het dan zo fijn om bij KPMG te werken? “Het is heel belangrijk om je op je gemak te voelen bij je werk en bij de werkomgeving. Dat vind ik hier allebei. Ik ga dan ook met plezier elke dag naar mijn werk.” Dat zijn mooie woorden, maar wat precies maakt het dan zo plezierig? “Er heerst een prettige sfeer op het kantoor maar ook bij de klant. KPMG is bovendien flexibel als het op de studie aankomt. Er zijn veel mogelijkheden mits je het goed overlegt. De begeleiding hierbij is ook goed. Elke trainee heeft een mentor vanaf het begin. Daar naast is er de mogelijkheid om naar het buitenland te gaan.” KPMG doet er ook van alles aan om het de werknemer naar de zin te maken. “Voor mensen onder de 30 jaar is er een vereniging, ‘Connect’, die vakanties en feesten organiseert. Er is verder een kerstdiner en barbecue in de zomer. Je leert de mensen goed kennen doordat de teams waarin je werkt per opdracht wisselen.” De BAS (Business Advisory Services, consultancy) en Audit afdelingen zijn wel gescheiden, “..er is weinig contact met de mensen van BAS”. Hoe ziet een baan van een accountant bij Audit KPMG er nu eigenlijk uit? “ In teams van 3 à 4 personen gaan we naar de klant en daar zitten we dan ook meestal. Je zit eigenlijk maar 1 keer in de 2 weken op het KPMG kantoor en verder
ben je bij de klanten.” Dit verklaart het kleine aantal mensen dat we hebben zien rondlopen en de vele ‘flex’-werkplekken in het gebouw. Dit lijkt in contrast met het imago van de gemiddelde accountant, maar is dat ook echt zo? “Een accountant is geen boekhouder. Die fout maken veel mensen. Het boekhouden zelf doen wij niet. Wij controleren de jaarrekeningen op eventuele bedrijfseconomische risico’s. Dus op mogelijkheden voor fraude. Ter plekke nemen we ook streekproeven om te zien hoe facturen geboekt worden. Er is vaak een verschil in gebruik van bepaalde classificaties voor de jaarrekening. Er zijn verschillende manieren om waarden weer te geven. Hier zijn voorschriften voor opgesteld en vaak volgt er overleg met de klant. Grote fraudezaken komen dan ook niet regelmatig voor, er zijn toch altijd kleine verschillen waarbij er overleg met de klant noodzakelijk is. Onze argumenten moeten dan goed onderbouwd zijn tijdens de discussie met de klant.” Dus na de controle klopt de jaarrekening helemaal? “Niet helemaal, wij ondertekenen het met de garantie dat de jaarrekening een ‘getrouw beeld van de werkelijkheid’ geeft. Dat is niet hetzelfde als 100% juist.” De klanten van KPMG zijn vooral de grote bekende bedrijven; o.a. ING, Shell, Fortis. Hierbij horen ook BV’s en NV’s van buitenlandse bedrijven. “Je werkt vooral in je eigen regio, met af en toe een uitzondering in Amsterdam of Lelystad.” Wat het vervoermiddel is? “Van het werk heb je een budget voor een lease auto.” Onze conclusie: als accountant heb je het maar goed voor elkaar. Na een paar jaartjes extra studie heb je een RA papier op zak en ligt de wereld voor je open, je kan naar het buitenland of naar eigen ambitie doorgroeien. Er is immers een tekort aan accountants. En dat suffe imago is in ieder geval niet terug te vinden in dit design gebouw. Nog een vooroordeel de wereld uit.
The Ecunomist - Annual Volume 17, Edition 2 - Januari 2008
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The Ecunomist - Annual Volume 17, Edition 2 - Januari 2008
Photopage
The Ecunomist - Annual Volume 17, Edition 2 - Januari 2008
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Review - Company Day
‘Claim your Future’ Arjan de Hoop – At the 21st of November the ECU’92 Company Day took place. The participating companies were Bureau Berenschot, CBS, DTZ Zadelhoff, Ernst&Young, Fortis, Gemeente den Haag, KPMG, Ministerie van Financiën, NMa, Ormit, Qompas, Saen Options, SNS Reaal, Talent&Pro and main sponsor Deloitte. These companies provided workshops and presentations. There was also the possibility of having an individual conversation and having a talk with the recruiters at the Company Market. The theme of the day was ‘Claim your Future’, which refers to both students and companies. As a student it’s important to know at what kind of company your skills fit and what kind of job you would like. For companies it’s important because students are the people who build the future of the company, so it’s important to invest in attracting these young professionals. Preparation When starting to organize the Company Day in March I wondered what we were supposed to do during all those months till November. After the first meetings this question disappeared while I raised a new one: how are we going to fit in all those activities in just approximately eight months? What kind of activities should we provide? How should we convince fifteen interesting companies that they should participate? How to pick a location that fits our broad day schedule? Are we able to attract a wellknown person who would like to give an opening speech? And how to motivate the students to attend the Company Day? Fortunately, seven enthusiastic students participated in the commission, each with their own specific task. Unless the time-consuming preparation there were some issues to be dealt with during the last few days. Because of problems with prin-
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ting, the deadlines for signing up had to be postponed. Especially the handling of résumé’s of students took a lot of time, but due to some nice teamwork we were ready to open the doors of Meeting Plaza at ten o’clock! The Big Day Finally it was 21 November, half past ten, and Alexander Rinnooy Kan was talking about the importance of a good preparation for your career. After the speech everyone rushed to the next activity. For me, time passed at double speed. While taking care of the Company Market, catering, parking cards, etc .there was no time left to visit any presentations. Before I knew it I was having a beer at the end of the day and people told me that the day was really well organized. It’s good to hear the effort you put in organizing one day is appreciated! Future Every ECU’92 Company Day is different. Every commission has it’s own ideas. For example, the ’06 commission added the individual conversations to the program, which turned out to be a big success. Our commission came up with the idea to provide a Company Lunch with Deloitte. The attendants were enthusiastic! It’s up to the Company Day Commission 2008 to renew the concept once again. If I may suggest: a Company Day completely or partly in English will also give our foreign students the opportunity to Claim their Future!
The Ecunomist - Annual Volume 17, Edition 2 - Januari 2008
Review - Company Day
Food and Companies Joris Hehenkamp- Long a go I signed up for the ECU’92 Company Day for several reasons. First; there is a lot of high quality, low priced (free) food. This is always attractive for both economists and Dutchlings. Since I belong to both categories; I already knew I could not miss this day. Second, as a reasonably, most of the time somewhat active ECU’92 member, I wanted to see how my colleagues organized this grand event. Having some inside information, and some common sense; it is far from easy to organize such a happening and, after organizing it, make it into a success. Thirds, for me the least important but for most of the attendants the prime reason: I could sniff at the labour market. As a second years with a lot of stuff to do (travelling, studying some more, a year in the board, perhaps) I am sure my future will unravel itself in due time.
both a good and a happy student/ living being should be remembered. “A great opening of the day, what is to come?”, I whisper in silence, as I am guided towards my first business presentation by the walkie talkie people. SNS Reaal fires of and I do not notice I spend an hour (or was it two?) listening how their website got to be so cool, and that they are looking for a good team rather than a good business model (take that, teacher of the year Mr. Weitzel!). I spend some more hours listening to the talks of talented talent seekers and before I know it, after having digested approximately six delicious sandwiches, synergized with some cakes and cookies, during the beloved and desired lunch, I am talking to some fellow students holding beers, saying “What a lovely day it has been.”
The word you are looking for is, anyway… I went there Wednesday the 21st of November. I still travel to Utrecht, so the location at the central station is perfect for me. I look round to find out where this meeting plaza is; google maps did not really inform me about the exact place, merely the direction in which I walk. I proceed in this direction and find other students. Entering the meeting plaza I find most people to be suit-ed and anxious for the day to come. A gorgeous girl with a walkie talkie tells me to find a seat in the neighbouring room, and so I do. Alexander Rinnooy Kan starts his talk. What an amazing speaker! He has me, and the entire room, clutching for every next word as he tells us how he became one of the most influential men in the Netherlands and giving us advice on how to do even better. Unfortunately I did not take notes; his ten tips on how to be
The Ecunomist - Annual Volume 17, Edition 2 - Januari 2008
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Analysis
The economics of Ron Paul Joel Kroodsma - Ron who? The Republican presidential candidate for the upcoming elections of 2008. Frequently ignored by the mainstream media but rapidly gaining popularity on youtube. Raised $4 milion dollars in seven days, and scores in some polls higher than the far more established candidate John McCain. Why is he getting so popular? The congressman from Texas is from the libertarian wing of the Republican Party. As the name suggests, libertarianism is the ideology of (absolute) freedom. In his 30 plus years as a politician Paul has never voted for a tax rise. He is from the same party as President Bush the Younger, but he calls the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq 'imperialistic foreign policy'. Paul, a father of five, is deeply Christian but is not politically opposed to same-sex marriages and supports the decriminalization of all illicit substances. Paul's devotedness in upholding his principles explains a good part of his popularity. But what is libertarianism? To call it an ideology in support of liberty is not sufficient. You would be hard pressed to find a politician who is against freedom. The distinction is in the definition of liberty. It follows classical liberalism, an influential political philosophy originating in 17th century England. Classical liberalism takes as starting point the concept of Lockean freedoms. John Locke stated that all liberty results from the natural rights to have property. Freedom of expression, for example, follows from the proposition that you 'own' your mouth. From self-ownership follows the ownership of all you have added value to through your own labor. Your liberty ends where the other person’s liberty starts: murder of a person violates his natural right of selfownership and therefore violates the Lockean conception of liberty. The just role of the government is to safeguard the liberties of the public.
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Many commentators, especially in Europe, confuse Paul's anti-war stance with progressiveness and left-wing politics. Paul’s resistance to Bush’s policy of ‘democracy at gun point’ follow from his idea of the proper role of the state: the state should be protecting the liberties of the people at home, not violate them of people abroad. It is a view we in Europe very much agree with, but there is much more to Ron Paul. Even though in his view homosexuals have a natural right to cohabitate with whoever they want, and both addicts and recreational users of narcotics have a natural right to have fun/self-destruct in any way they please, the greater part of Ron Paul's agenda would be very alien to European politics. Paul rejects any taxes beyond the strictly justified(defined below). Because the focal point in libertarian ideology is ownership of oneself and the fruits of ones labor, taxation is seen as the most basic, and the most fundamental violation of a person's liberty. With taxation, the state appropriates a part of your time, energy and effort - in fact, a part of you (or so the argument goes). This firm rejection of taxation has some extreme policy consequences: Paul proposes to abolish all government costing programs and organizations which do not directly add to the liberties of the public. This means no offensive army to invade oil rich countries, but also no public education. No War against Drugs, and no public pension system. What are left are the safeguards for personal liberty, to prevent the violating of one person's liberty by another person. This implies a minimal state consisting of police,
The Ecunomist - Annual Volume 17, Edition 2 - Januari 2008
Analysis the courts and a small army purely for defensive purposes. What really sets Ron Paul apart from all the other candidates is not so-much his anti-war stance or unrelenting resistance against taxation. These positions are scattered all across the American political spectrum, be it not in the manifestation of a single candidate. In my opinion, special about Ron Paul is the logical extreme to which he is willing to take his ideology. What follows from Paul's classical liberalism is the privatization of money. In monetary economics it is stated that money is the prototypical public good: like a dike or street light, it yields the particular individual very little utility but a town of country very much utility. Imagine yourself in a Robinson Crusoe economy (op een onbewoond eiland, that is), a medium of exchange is useless if there is no one to trade with. These days, money is produced by the central bank. Central bank money as a concept is quite young, especially in the United States. The first central bank (CB) - the Riskbank of Sweden was established during the late 17th century, the Dutch and English central banks somewhat later (around 1800). The American CB, the Federal Reserve (aka the FED) was established in 1913. Before, money was produced privately. A commercial bank was legally allowed to print money for lending to the public by acquiring gold or silver (assets) and creating currency (usually a bank note of some sort). The result was that all currency in circulation was 'backed' by gold. In theory - given the roughly constant quantity of gold and silver in the banking system - the money supply could not be tampered with. A dollar was as good as gold. Unless the quantity of gold fluctuated (during the gold rushes in California, South-Africa and Australia for example) or the private banks went bankrupt (due to bad loans or simply not having sufficient gold backing), in that case the whole financial system fell apart.
American FED in particular. The CB of the U.S.A. is the legal money monopolist: only the FED may produce currency. It is also the so-called ‘lender of last resort’, greatly stabilizing the banking system. Furthermore, the FED is not obliged to back new currency with new gold. Any type of real asset will do. During modern history, governments at many times financed their wars by monetizing their debt. The state would issue bonds (debt), which were subsequently exchanged by the CB for freshly printed money. With this money the government would equip the army and pay the solders, but the real resources required for this must originate from somewhere. They come from the people who are legally bounded to the central bank money. The value of their bank notes decreases because the government has taken a cut of the private economy. It is the so-called inflation tax described above which Ron Paul attributes to the CB. The expansion of the American money supply to lower interest rates after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 has recently translated into higher prices. The value of the US dollar has greatly depreciated over the last four years. For us it makes the United States dirt cheap (get me a iPhone if you go), for the Americans it makes the products of the rest of the world very expensive. Unfortunately, the U.S. economy requires large imports of oil, which lately crossed the $100/barrel barrier on the first day of 2008. As a consequence inflation is on the rise. Paul's solution is to once-again fix the American dollar to gold, to reinstate the gold standard, and to abolish the FED. Such a radical decision would change the role of the state completely. For better or for worse, the American government uses monetary policy to stabilize the economy. It would be low inflation but the chaos of the 19th century American economy. I doubt how many Europeans would define that as progress.
This is markedly different in the public money system of the Central Bank, and with the
The Ecunomist - Annual Volume 17, Edition 2 - Januari 2008
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Analysis
For whom the bell tolls… Elena M – Death can be classified as of natural causes and prior to the assigned time. Let us think of death as the end of life –because neither you, nor I know what actually happens after brain shuts down and heart stops beating –it could be anything or nothing at all. For simplicity, hold other thoughts and assumption about after death period as ceteris paribus. Death is just a step (until YOU die); so where does it like to go for a walk? The way people talk about death in modern times can literally mortify you. As death can be personal – when it passes by and picks up a relative or a friend. In this case there is a thought of disbelief and touchiness in the person that went through this experience, all the talk about death becomes personal and activates a “how-dare-you-talk-about-death-!” response, which leads to further misery and alienation – and advances to fear of death and other hazardous behavior patterns. Now enough of that, next comes the regular distant talk – on the news, TV, etc – many times, those affect the responses people have to the knowledge about death – even the words of ‘condolence’ become cold and uneasy, the feelings are unaffected, like Stalin said: “One man’s death is a tragedy, a million – is statistics.” to many of us three, five, ten, fifty dead people have become statistics. No wake up calls here, death is a daily routine! Tendency to talk about death becomes normal,
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but is there anything normal about death? When did it happen so, that hearing about genocide, children starvation, natural disaster, terrorist action on the news, makes ‘it’ ok? Makes us sad for a moment, and next minute – I quote Hotel Rwanda, when a main character thanks a journalist for filming and sending a footage of genocide, the cameraman replies: “I think if people see this footage, they'll say Oh, my God, that's horrible. And then they'll go on eating their dinners.”…Why even this person, being at the event says such a horrible thing? Is it because we cannot deal with mass death? Is it because we don’t know what to do? Or is it because we are afraid, that the moment we do something about it, ask questions, activate – we will be touched by DEATH?! The knowledge of the places and causes of death around the world might help you start accepting that accepting death is not good. In fact – it is inhuman to feel little when hearing about death, because death is the end for so many. Certain information will help understand the spread of death around the world, and it might be that your next vocation is just in the heart of the death zone. Death occurs for the following reasons; AIDS, starvation, genocide, diseases, armed conflicts; it occurs for the following reasons – lack of education, lack of medical care and vaccines, lack of civility, and an enormous presence of greedy foreigners Ù, natural disasters, overpopulated areas and political conflicts. Next time you watch the news, try to remember which country the encore is talking about. Africa: At this very moment countries with armed conflicts account for North and West Africa: Ivory Coast, Chad, Liberia, Sudan; Central Africa: Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Uganda – in almost each of these countries two or three parties fight for territories and power, children are being used as soldiers; have refugees escaping from the
The Ecunomist - Annual Volume 17, Edition 2 - Januari 2008
Analysis armed forces that spare no one, they are taken away from families, trained to be shooters and then used as body shields against other armed groups. These conflicts escalate to the proportions of mass killings and the result of such is a complete deterioration of human population, no prospects for the citizens, no life for the children. If one is raised among weapons, violence and constant fear and anger – one starts destroying everything around himself, because that is the only thing he knows how to do best. Another big killer in Africa is AIDS, the amount of people dying from it in 2007 is estimated at 1.6 million people and slowly increasing; that is roughly 10% of Dutch population being wiped out a year. Main reasons, stated by UNAIDS, for acquiring HIV/AIDS are poor-education about sexual behavior, not enough care in medical procedures. HIV/AIDS prevails in regions of Sub-Sahara desert – the countries where many westerners go for safari, and wild life experience. Draw your own conclusions! Asia is not the last region to hear of armed conflicts and AIDS, but in addition to it, there are massive natural disasters that come by as a surprise and leaves unprepared folks in ruins. Myanmar and the monks against the government, Nepal and the “liberators” against the communists, Sri Lanka and the military forces that use children for their guerilla warfare fights, Philippines has the same story. The natural disasters such as tsunami, earthquakes, and floods visit almost every Asian coast, some countries are better prepared for those, like Japan, Korea and there are communities that have to rebuild over and over again like Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia and smaller islands. Central Asia - truly I have trouble remembering the period in time when there was no war and/or dictatorship which lead to massacres in this region. Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, Occupied Palestinian Territory – all of these countries are daily on the news with new bombs, attacks, broken seized fire and just death tolls of children who will never go to school, women who will not take care of their families, fathers and sons, mothers and daugh-
ters who will no longer see the next day and the smile on the faces of their loved ones. Around the globe there are dozen of other places where death occurs in places where epidemics (SARS, bird flu, other-unknown-abbreviations) burst into the open and take lives of hundreds of people. One thing is certain; that the most outrageous death is when one human kills another human not for survival but to gain power. People struggle for power over others through violence, but those who walk on dead bodies are caught in constant fear of death and torture from the same people that they made into their slaves. “Therefore, power is an illusion.” Thinking about possibilities for change, it is necessary to know what the ingredients are in the death of people in a particular area: who is involved, who the suppliers are, what the casualties are and what happens to people that escape. Refugees spread around African countries, but many of them have to leave the continent with a prospect of better life in Australia, Europe, Canada. Now ask yourself - Do I want to live in a neighborhood with people who were killing other people in their childhood? – would I want my child to hold a gun at the age of 10? We must act within our community and spread the message across states and continents. By holding that voting power in your own country – each of us just might make a change for those children who are dying because of our ignorance. Death triggers a chain reaction, and the more causes that appear – the more death zone spreads. It is up to us to make it NOT OK for children and young adults to die. We shouldn’t fear death, as it is just a part of the game, called life.
The Ecunomist - Annual Volume 17, Edition 2 - Januari 2008
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Column
Reflections of a Denversaurus Y.S. Brenner - Normally I read my newspaper first thing in the morning, but occasionally something happens and I don’t get around to it till late at night. I don’t like it. Too often I then cannot fall asleep for hours. When I finally do fall asleep I have nightmares. Such a night I had in late November. I dreamt that Osama bin Laden was standing by my bed holding up a cuddly little teddy bear. He smiled and said that this was a present he brought me. I took the fluffy toy and thanked him. Osama asked me if I do not want to give the bear a name?” I laughed. “Better not. There are so many names in the Koran that I can never be sure if any name I suggested wouldn’t get me into trouble.” Osama grinned. “Are you afraid to be given forty lashes, to spend a few years in a Sudanese prison, or is it that you don’t want to have your head chopped off?” (1) I tried to change the topic of the conversation, and said that I was surprised to see him because many people believed that he was dead. Instead of an answer he began humming the melody of “I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night”. When he reached the refrain I joined in and sang: “I never died, says he. I never died, says he.” Osama stopped humming. He seemed a little surprised. “So you remember the song? It used to be popular with labour unionists in the late 1920s and in the 1930s. This was after the Americans sent Sacco and Vanzetti to the electric chair. Can you also remember the rest of the lyrics?” I tried to remember but the only part that came to my mind was: “The copper bosses killed you, Joe, “They shot you, Joe, “ says I.” “Takes more than guns to kill a man,” says Joe, “I didn’t die”, says Joe, “I didn’t die.” I told Osama that I only remembered one stan-
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za, and even this one I was not sure if I did it correctly. But, I added, that he could find the entire lyrics of the song on the internet. (2) “Ah, yes, on the internet,” he repeated after me. “I never thought of it.” I said that there were other things he did not think of, “Did it never occur to you that the methods you employ for spreading your ideas alienate people rather than encourage them to follow you?” He looked surprised. “Why? Even in your own country people are already beginning to exclude infidels from their neighbourhood for fear of true believers retribution? Take for example the good inhabitants of the Prins Bernhardlaan in Voorburg. Have not fifty of them protested against Ehsam Jami coming to live among them? (3) You see, my method works. It becomes more effective with each passing day.” “No, it doesn’t!” I protested. “Your method can spread fear, but even more it spreads resentment. You may make inroads in several Third World regions, but in the countries which you regard as your main enemies you may only find a handful of muddle headed admirers and followers, but most citizens don’t want to be taken back to the early Middle Ages. They want to live in affluence and do not wish to be subjected to the awful rule of priests and tyrants. Women want to be free and...” He interrupted me. “Then they are stupid. They jeopardise their life in the hereafter.” “Perhaps they do and perhaps they don’t. After
The Ecunomist - Annual Volume 17, Edition 2 - Januari 2008
Column all, Christianity also promises rewards in the life hereafter, though without the virgins. It has learned to accommodate itself to life in the new era.” Osama gave me an angry look. “Indeed! But their promises are false. Ours are true. Christians allow people to waste their time on science and technology instead of studying the holy books that really matter...” This time I interrupted him. “So you think that all schools and universities ought to be closed and only religious education be allowed?” “It would be best.” “For this you would have first to conquer the world.“ “Indeed. Allah is on our side and we shall conquer.” “With your method of spreading fear?” “Is there another way?” “Why not learn from the Chinese? Look how they are conquering America and Europe.” Suddenly the door to my room opened and forty beautiful virgins crowded into it, and I realised that I have been dreaming. I turned on the light and leafed through the papers and journals on my bedside table. In de Volkskrant I read that Ping An, the second largest insurance company of China, recently became the largest shareholder in the DutchBelgian bank-insurer Fortis (which took over the activities of ABN Amro in the Netherlands) and that one of the directors of the Chinese corporation was to become a member of the raad van bestuur of Fortis. (4) In Der Spiegel I
saw that China’s Central Bank has a foreign currency reserve of more than 1400 milliard dollars. (5) Most of it was invested in US Government Bonds with little risk but earning little interest. It occurred to me that this stimulates Chinese exports because it keeps the value of the dollar higher than it ought to be and the Chinese currency low. But it made me wonder what would happen if the Chinese, with their enormous currency holdings, decided one day to use them to buy up American and European high-tech industries with useful military know-how and placed their men or women in the corporations management? All at once I was not sure if privatisation and globalization were really so marvellous ideas as people keep on trying to tell me. Bilthoven: December 2007 Y.S. Brenner Notes 1. Een rechtbank in Soedan heft de Britse onderwijzeres Gillian Gibbons veroordeeled tot vijftien dagen cel, omdat ze haar leerlingen had toegestaan een teddybeer de naam Mohammed togeven. (de Volkskrant 30.11.2007) 2 .See Joe Hill. http://bkb.whybark.com/songbook/joe_hill.html 3. See de Volkskrant 30.11.2007 “Ongewenst buurman”. 4. See de Volkskrant 30.11.2007 5.See Der Spiegel 26.11.2007 pp.77-8. (Other foreign currency reserves according to IWF were in milliard dollars in August 2007 as follows: Japan 916, Russia 407, Taiwan 278, South Korea 255, India 222, Europe 213, Brazil 161, Singapore 148, Hongkong 138)
The Ecunomist - Annual Volume 17, Edition 2 - Januari 2008
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Final Say
Growth = Ian Koetsier - All what we, as economists, have done the last couple of years focuses on economic growth, to say something about the state of the economy in a country or region. Economic growth has become God for economists. But just like God you have to believe in it! The question that we have to ask ourselves is; have we gone too far believing in growth?! Growth is seen as the treatment to everything nowadays. Economic growth is surely overestimated. There are economic activities that directly arise from negative effects of economic growth, activities like building sound screens etcetera. When these kinds of activities are added to economic growth, you might argue whether this is correct. Furthermore there are also costs of economic growth that are not expressed in money. Among the most debated effects are environmental-effects. But you can also think of the noise from lorries passing by when you are in bed. The congestion and irritation created by it, when you are on the road… Or the damage done too landscapes by all the business parks. These effects are not accounted for in economic growth. The price for economic growth is high but it is difficult to see. And so it is easy to ignore because almost everyone is doing it. Economic growth still is an aggregate of many sectors. It does not clarify whether the growth is coming from ecotourism or from building sound screens. So it is not clear whether it is good or bad. Every year, we have to produce more with almost the same number of people, to create growth which might be bad for us after all.
day, but this feeling has fallen apart. The alternative where we can believe in is ‘the index of sustainable economic welfare’. This corrects for social and ecological costs of economic growth. The index says for the Dutch economy that the current situation is worse than in the seventies. The growth is now the highest in years but is this positive? Even with this record growth, the “real growth” is near zero. But the normal economic growth believe continues to prevail, politicians going in the polonaise through The Hague because of the current growth announcements. The believe in God took centuries to overcome; the “old growth thinking” will fortunately only be a matter of decades.
Today, growth is seen as positive, just like most Gods. But what if you do not believe in God, and have no religion? Where can you believe in? In yourself and in others, but in economics it unfortunately is not that easy. Having no religion in the Netherlands is widely accepted but abandoning the “growth thinking” is far less mainstream. We must ask ourselves what it is all about in growth. Growth must bring the sense that we are better off today than yester-
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The Ecunomist - Annual Volume 17, Edition 2 - Januari 2008
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