Choose Mark, for instance

Wednesday is election-day. I know we have a leader with a credibility problem. On two or three instances the party made political mistakes with childish motives during the last government-term. We've been hardly visible during the campaign. I know 'choose liberal' is not the strongest campaign-slogan. And some people may even find the slogan 'actually you are a democrat' offensive or laughable.

But don't you think it's unfair the Christian Democrats get free votes free-riding on the ideas and courage of the two other parties in the administration? Don't you think it's a sign of poverty we already know who will be the next Prime Minister even though he's proven himself to be a highly ineffective leader? Why should two conservative parties be the winners of this election? Is there really no more progress to be made in this country? Do you think it is time for calm and quiet? Do you feel confident and secure with a leader of the nation who says we don't have to reform or make progress the next four years? What does a standstill usually mean in this globalised economy? Is there really no alternative for Donner?

Choose investments in education. Choose nature. Choose accountability. Choose a wise immigration policy. Choose sensible market policy. Choose change. Choose progress. Choose openness. Choose courage. Choose democracy. Choose equal opportunities for women. Choose hope.

And if not Mark, choose Kajsa, Boris or John.

Paradise

Oh yeah, The Killers where absolutely great. I was there with Vince (thanx again buddy) and Cornelie and, among others, Dutch band Kane. We found out half an hour before the show the singer is just 25. As you can see, it didn't ruin our fun.

(© OOR)

But I do think someone should look into the state of the floor-construction in Paradiso. I saw and felt it will not last an entire concert season without constructional improvements...

Unsportsman-like conduct

Last week PSV beat Ajax fairly easy. As you can see, PSV created three chances, as did Ajax. As PSV played there worst game since two months, Ajax where the better side. Ajax-coach Henk ten Cate proved to be a sore loser when he kept on criticizing PSV's game throughout the week. According to him PSV set the tone in Dutch football with their ugly, defensive but effective style of play: "When I left Holland for Barcelona three years ago I called PSV a boring team. Now, it's the new standard. I don't want to be compared with that." Looks like coach Ten Cate is settling in very well with the arrogant narrow-minded tradition in Amsterdam.

He is right when he says PSV set the standard in Dutch football. They are going on their sixth championship in eight years. But he's not right when he says PSV play a boring, defensive style. Facts don't lie: PSV have scored 35 times this season, compared to ajax' 29. Maybe this post should've been named The Emperors' Cloths pt. II...

I will attend ajax's game against FC Twente this afternoon, with Jur, Vince and Rog. It will be my third visit to Amsterdam in four days, after The Killers on Thursday and the regulators on Friday. Am I changing?

We Never Die!

Well, until we do we'll be sitting on Jelly's couch sipping great wine (thanx boss) and trying not to smoke (to much) every week. When one of us does go, the other two will commemorate him in similar fashion:


We expressed disgust and joy on the coming election victory of the two conservative parties the Christian Democrats and the Socialist Party. As a progressive liberal you can guess my sentiments. Besides that we spoke about ever important issues such as the disastrous policy of our national football coach (dare not speak his name!) and the formidable state of high-class comedy on Dutch television.

Vince gave me his last ticket to The Killers' beforehand legendary concert in Paradiso tonight. Thanx buddy, please accept this great wine as a token of my gratitude:













and thank you Mini-Me, as well..

Broke my promise..

Just to stick it to my boss.

Insider/outsider

A great paradigm in political thought is the insiders-outsiders dilemma. It's a useful way of analyzing such different things as immigration policy, international trade policy, the labor market (including the cost and benefits of permanent employment contracts), but also antitrust policy and the reform of health-care markets. The latter keeps me busy these days. The insights this paradigm offers form a big part of my political views.

The lessons are: eliminate barriers to entry and thou shall prosper. This requires resisting the lobby of incumbents and vested interests. This takes courage most politicians or even bureaucrats lack. We´re gonna try it in the pharmaceuticals markets and the long-term care sector. If we succeed it will be a policy-achievement of historic proportions (well, in the Netherlands at least).

Naturally Peter beat me to it. After all, he is an experienced blogger:
"In academics it sometimes seems that you must be moving towards your pension to be able to make a dissenting opinion that matters. While it is debated in the streets and in the international institutions; in the Dutch universities a macroeconomic analysis of the insiders-outsiders dilemma on a world scale is largly absent. Whereas this is in fact the core of the development challenge, which is a question of income-distribution. That focus provides binding reasons for trade liberalisation in sectors where the have's often have something to lose, but there's a world to win ."

Johnny

I´ll try and make it two posts without youtube hyperlinks. But in this post I´ll still share this beauty.

Killer

We all agreed the lead singer can´t sing. When he starts screaming it´s even better. Vince and his girl are going to see them thursday. Goes without saying I envy them. Vince and I also agree this is their best song.

Brillant

This is so life-like it's scary!
Scary funny...

The emperor's clothes pt. I

One thing I like about sports is that it can show you ways in which society works. A Belgian footballcoach once said: "in the Netherlands it doesn't matter what you say, it matters who says it". That cultural characteristic puts some people above criticism in this country. But that's the topic of a coming post. It is also a factor in the fabrication of certain untrue ideas or images that take hold in society which can be very persisting. I find this fascinating. I'm only slightly exaggerating when I say this is an indication of the way consent is manufactured.

The last three years there have been two clubs that dominate the highest Dutch footballleague (you'll find out which one has my support soon enough). For some time the commonly accepted obstinate idea among the footballfriendly was that AZ is the club that plays a fresh, attacking and most of all young team. They are the club with a succesfull future ahead of them. PSV on the contrary are a mature team who play a solid game and have done so for some years. Fact is that the average age of the team AZ played in their most recent eredivisie match was 26,5, while PSV's was 25,3. PSV's head-to-head record against AZ is 5-1-0 17-5 in the last three years. AZ have been the team of the future for some time now according to pundits, press and a large part of the public. Certain ideas are hard to beat.

(© Pics United)

These are the kinds of highly interesting topics I discuss with Julio, as I did yesterday in Amsterdam on invitation of my friends at the AFM.

Utrecht never dies!

That senseless title is the name of a new tradition. What we mean by it? Hardcore Caymans stick. We'll have weekly dinners/non-smoking challenges and invoke the jealousy of our departed fellow amphibians. The topics of discussion include old dragons, great music and a brother gone astray. Thank you Mini-Me.