Economics, do you understand?
The economy is running like a charm again, but wages and pensions are not going up by a dime and the cost of living continues to rise.
Many people don't understand it. In my younger years I once learned the law of economics: 'get the greatest possible result with the least possible effort.' To be honest, as a not too diligent student at the time, that appealed to me.
I have to think about it regularly. Thailand is booming, the tourist flow is increasing, the baht is strong, but what do the Thai people notice? Yes, the minimum wage will go up by a few bahts, or so I read. But looking at that meager daily wage you still get a stuffy feeling.
When I listen to the enthusiastic speeches of the politically responsible, things are also going well in the Low Countries. Unfortunately, pensioners notice very little of this and should be happy with the fact that if they have been lucky in recent years if the pension has not been reduced. The working class is not too happy either. In short, don't grumble because the current retirees belong to the wealthier class. At least that is what those in the know are saying, and those are, of course, government officials who have studied economics.
Do you know which Asian country performs best? Read it today in the Bangkok Post; the Philippines. That country achieved a growth of 2017 percent in 6.7 and the Central Bank of the country is expected to be confident that monetary policy for the coming year will be right. They have to because otherwise their job will have to believe it. The country already has - mind you - the 76th consecutive quarters of economic growth, making the Philippines the outsider of the entire region. The economy in the Philippines continues to develop strongly and there is room for further growth, the government said. Unfortunately, the trade deficit has reached a record high and the peso is under pressure and is the worst performing currency in Asia with a rate of 51 against the dollar. Unfortunately, even there, the population of the country notices very little of all that economic progress. After several visits to the country, in my opinion, the majority of the population is poverty-stricken, but the government will be quite satisfied. And in which country are the heads of government not only too happy to pat themselves on the back?
Strange feeling
If you compare the economic growth figures of both Thailand and the Philippines in recent years with our small countries - Belgium and the Netherlands - then we come off badly.
If you haven't studied economics, you don't understand anything at all. Just before I left for Thailand I was a guest at one of the Van der Valk hotels. My attention was drawn to a photo of Gerrit van der Valk, which recalled one of his striking statements. “Eyes and ears open, beak closed and hands flapping.” Gerrit, as he himself once claimed, had little education but was a real economist in his doings.
Well, economics………. it is not for nothing that many consider 'economics' not to be an exact science, but rather a social/political science. By far the most important factor is human behavior (how we react to situations/events) and that is only predictable to a very small extent. You can, however, use the economic theories from the various schools of thought very well to explain things afterwards - and of course you hope to learn from them so that you can make better predictions.
Economy is keeping the working people stupid and deceiving them.
Politicians like to participate in this scaremongering.
Recently there was a post that the super rich have become richer again.
That's what the normal population works for, for the super rich all this topped with a democratic sauce of Rutte's smiley face.
We live in a capitalist dictatorship controlled by the hedge funds and major shareholders.
That's economics and I didn't study for it either.
Marco
That's all true but I'll go a little further. If more people voted for the PvdA, D 66 and GroenLinks, and less for the VVD, things would probably look different. A large part of the blame simply lies with the working people who do not vote or vote 'wrong'. Agree?
Tino,
Of course it is true that people have to vote and it is also true that the market thinking of the VVD and associates has brought little to the citizens.
I follow politics a bit and people from the SP, for example, who want to push back market forces are ridiculed by the recently graduated economists of the VVD.
The present for Pechthold is also something like that, he gets an apartment in Scheveningen for which I have to work all my life.
Confidence is largely gone and our social system that we have built up is being given away to big business.
The problem is that the Dutch accept everything.
If politics in our southern neighbors fumbles about the retirement age, the whole country will come to a standstill.
Totally DON'T agree with you Tino. D'66 only wants to extradite the Netherlands to Brussels and has nothing socialist about it at all, with Alexander Penthouse at the forefront. During the previous government's term of office, the PvdA had the opportunity to manifest itself as a socialist party for four years. Didn't come out at all. And the Green Left has once again not dared to take on government responsibility. This party, with Jesse Klaver in the lead, will never contribute anything to the progress of the Netherlands. What remains is the communist SP. I will not comment further on that.
So I really can't follow your statement that voting for the PvdA, D'66 and Groen Links would probably look different.
It's always easy to say: that doesn't help! Tell us how you want to tackle economic inequality? I have been voting PvdA for years, and I maintain that a coalition of the three parties mentioned above is better than a coalition with the VVD. And the SP communist?
Economic inequality hardly exists. At most, the difference in pay between men and women, although these differences are also not great and can often be justified. Where there are economic differences, they are caused by market forces, education, experience, etc. The PvdA has been allowed to participate in many governments, including with the CDA, but that has not resulted in any clear differences. And certainly not during the last government term. A coalition of D'66, PvdA and Groen Links is primarily a utopia and, moreover, totally undesirable because the Netherlands will be screwed up in no time.
And you don't understand that the SP is communist? Forced payment of part of the salary, no input from members about the party line to be followed - party board decides -, SP members of parliament who are dictated to by board decisions, without any form of consultation / discussion, etc. Just to name a few communist traits to name.
Dear Tina,
The economy is really not determined by PvdA or VVD.
Look at previous governments.
People benefit from international developments! When things get worse, people like to blame a previous government. Does it go better than coalitions immediately shout that that is their success!
Our parties are not that powerful. They are internationally influenced by all kinds of agreements of multinationals, banks, insurers and international political friends.
And let's not forget the current major players, China and the USA.
@Tino Kuis, totally agree, the blame lies mostly with the working people or those who think they are forgotten about politics, and therefore go wrong, or don't vote at all.
Dissatisfaction, anger, disappointment, fear of the future, and even feelings of hatred are never a good advisor to choose the right side, although many, not only in the Netherlands, do not want this confused anymore.
No, dear colleague, what nonsense, never vote for those parties, voting only makes sense if a major political revolution can be realized in the short term, the current system is ruled by big capital with lobbying mainly at the expense of the middle class. Politics always goes along with everything, usually for their own gain, whichever party. Maybe FvD can make a difference, but that remains to be seen.
The entire social system in the Netherlands has been virtually destroyed, partly by the parties mentioned above, and those who have actually contributed to it will be blamed.
Even if you don't vote for the VVD but for another party, little will change. Once with their butts on the luxurious plush, all MPs very quickly forget their promises to the voters, in favor of their own comfort. And the Dutch are slavish and willingly let themselves be bullied.
Then you would have to become self-sufficient, but in the Western world hardly anyone can do that.
In Africa, perhaps, but overpopulation plays tricks on the continent. However, natural defense mechanisms such as deadly diseases are becoming more and more combatable, not least thanks to drugs developed and sold by capitalist companies!
So you say it; comfort, health and a capitalist dictatorship or self-sufficiency and dead at 35 because there are no medicines? I think 99,99999999% choose the first one..
Dear Dennis,
Who or what is holding back independence and self-sufficiency!
Precisely the government with all kinds of laws and regulations driven by economic reasons (read large capital and companies).
These parties do not want articulate citizens, but honest taxpayers.
I think most people can take care of themselves just fine, but on a level playing field.
Rutte now gives away 1.4 billion dividend tax to his friends, that is per year.
He feels that this is necessary, to the depths of his fibers.
The district nursing and education sector that have been stripped down in recent years have to fight for a few hundred million.
Do you feel what I mean, the balance has been completely tipped.
And your story about Africa is nice, but that too is economics.
Apple doesn't sell enough phones so it's not economically important.
I have said here before that there need not be hunger in the world.
But hunger is power, so economics is how you see how an entire continent is being destroyed.
Not because of me I wish those people the best.
Let's face it: it is a fact, not a fact, that retirees have benefited immensely from the economy as it has played out in recent years. A second fact is that you cannot compare NL with TH. Even though TH's economy is booming, it is not like in NL that old-age provisions have been made, except for extremely meager support for the elderly, eg 2-year-olds who receive 70 baht. Another example: since 700, neighbors of mine have jointly received AOW and each a pension. They camp each year in both Thailand and Portugal. Now it so happens that they have both received more euros in the past 2012 years than they have both ever invested in their lives. Try that in TH or the PH. In other words: today's retirees have little reason to complain. Another example: a good acquaintance of mine lives with his 5 years younger girlfriend in Korat. He receives his AOW (30%) and a pension. If he had remained faithful to his previous partners, he could have enjoyed double. None of this has anything to do with economics, but with circumstances, responsibilities and the freedom to choose. NL is not that bad after all.
Dear Nok, today's pensioners and their parents have made the Netherlands great. As a thank you for this achievement, they are left out in the cold by politicians in The Hague time and time again. The challenge for the current employees is to really start performing, despite all their achievements such as a 36-hour working week, many days of vacation per year, extended maternity leave and paternity vacation. Only possible because of the hard work in the past of the current retirees and their parents.
Kind of nonsense, just as if today's workers have it so easy. That the elderly have built up the Netherlands is also such an outdated cliché. With what then, digging ditches or unloading ships?
Khan Peter
By just working hard, six days a week, at a moderate salary that was barely enough to make ends meet. That's not an outdated cliché. Bit of a stupid comment from someone who often comes up with clarifying texts. And very derogatory indeed > with which to dam, to dig ditches or to unload ships. Yes, also digging ditches, unloading lots of ships, but certainly also in the factories of Philips, NKF, Calve, you name it. And there people worked hard, six days a week, at least 8 hours a day.
Compared to that time, today's workers have a lazy job.
I know plenty of people who also now work six days a week and can barely make ends meet. It is just nonsensical nagging that the current elderly have built up the Netherlands. And that people used to work harder in the past. Of course everything was better in the past. Today's Baby Boomers should complain a little less, they hang around complaining while they have benefited most from the prosperity in the Netherlands.
And the fact that you call someone stupid who has a different opinion than you says more about you than it does about me.
So we clearly have a difference of opinion here. And that the current elderly and their parents have built up the Netherlands is not an absurd whining, but a reality that is denied by anyone, except you. Hence the qualification "stupid" in this context. Nowhere do you provide a substantiation for your expressed opinion. Shame. And unfortunately I don't know any people who have to work six days a week in the current time. I do know a lot of people who benefit from legal regulations and who like to use and abuse them a lot.
You may not know people who have to work six days a week, but the 'emancipation of women' in practice simply means that she must also have a job in order to keep the household going financially.
Frans, of course it concerns people in paid employment. Until the early sixties of the last century, a 6-day working week was quite normal, just like I went to school for 6 days. Khun Peter writes that he knows enough people who also work 6 days a week. These will mainly be self-employed entrepreneurs. With the abolition of the Sunday closing of shops in many municipalities, some may be working the full week, but the majority of employees are simply employed and usually work a maximum of 5 days. However, many do not make it because they work part-time, many women in percentage terms, and/or ATV days arranged through their collective labor agreement. By the way, you are talking about emancipation in French. This also applies to men, for whom it is becoming more and more common to contribute to the household work.
Frans Amsterdam I think this has nothing to do with emancipation.
The economy until 1990 was largely earned by 1 person per household.
Nowadays 2 people work to keep that economy at this high level!
,
Yes, because as a family of 40 working hours a week you can no longer eat dry bread on an average income.
Then we were happy with a TV or a nice radio.
There was not yet an economy that required more labour.
Now we have much more and we take that for granted.
Our children have to work together if they want to reap the benefits of this economy.
What a complain. What is wrong with that? Hard work gets you nowhere.
In your opinion, baby boomers are nagging, but don't forget the young people. They are already tired when they hear the word work and would prefer to “study” at the expense of the taxpayer until they are 35 and then work a maximum of 18 or 20 hours a week.
And in the past people did work harder and much longer, a working week of 60 hours or more was quite normal. I myself am now almost 66 and I still work 58 hours a week.
And take advantage of the prosperity? What prosperity? The elderly have been making a monthly contribution to their income for more than 8 years. And despite the promise of pervert Pinocchio, they are again going backwards this year
May I remind you that many baby boomers took early retirement before the age of 60 and that I have to work until the age of 67. So again a lot of complaining about nothing.
I come from a working-class family and know how much my father earned per week at the AKU in the early 2s, later becoming AKZO. I also remember that I earned 18 guilders an hour as an 1971-year-old working for a coppersmith ... That was 18. I worked for six weeks for a pick-up, an amplifier and two speakers. An 66 year old now catches a lot more and that much better installation also costs even less…. My pension plus AOW in two years when I am 80 plus three months is more than I receive as salary now. I have worked full-time for over thirty years, but since two years 80% four instead of five days. It will be less if I (own choice and responsibility) decide to live with a non-working (younger 🙂 ) partner. I have traveled in XNUMX countries and not been on the beach but actually talking to people on all levels. Although it is true what my mother used to say…the people who work the hardest live in the smallest houses…. does this especially apply to the people outside NL who produce the shoes, clothing, other (luxury) goods and part of the food for us.
The 18-year-old now receives a gross minimum of 4 euros per hour.
2 guilders in 1971 had the same purchasing power as 3.66 euros in 2016.
So only a little bit more is caught.
http://www.iisg.nl/hpw/calculate-nl.php
Pension is subordinated wages. Is borne by the employer and the employee himself. A good pension, as part of fringe benefits, has made many decide, and still does, to choose a particular employer. Of course, pertinent nonsense to claim that your neighbors would have received more in 5 years than they, together with their employer, would have contributed or surrendered their salary in the past 40 years. And that they go to Thailand and Portugal every year is their business and irrelevant. Just as it would be up to you what you would do with your money if you had deposited money in a savings account every year for 40 years, for example. Nok, it is a fact that pensioners have been declining for years in terms of net expenditure of their pension and are not reporting the overflowing pension pots due to the good investment results. Why, provided they do, shouldn't they be allowed to complain about it?
I started my response by saying that we should be honest. So take your time and read the attached article dated March 2017. Everyone understands that complaining covers bad cultural Dutch heritage. Or should complaining be declared a Dutch Showpiece?
https://www.volkskrant.nl/economie/gepensioneerden-benadeeld-in-nederland-ja-en-nee-aldus-cijfers-cbs~a4470905/
Nok, if you think that you want to classify the fact that pensioners, including me, have been declining substantially for years under the heading of 'complaining', that is your right. But why should I remain silent when politicians flaunt the economic progress of the Netherlands while I don't notice it at all in terms of disposable income? I am well aware that I am financially well off compared to many residents of Thailand. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to work there from the age of 17, studying in the evenings, to my 65th + 3 months (ie 48 years), largely in shifts with night hours, and thus build up a pension. Don't consider it an achievement yourself and be thankful that I was able to work for so long. I hardly know envy and certainly not towards neighbours, whether they own a second home, so to speak, buy a new car, kitchen, bathroom or whatever or spend a long time in distant places, including Thailand. I already knew that article from the Volkskrant, it has already been discussed on Thailand blog, so I will not waste any more words on it. Incidentally, a strange question from you to possibly declare complaining a Dutch Showpiece. You have complaining people all over the world and it is a cliché that all Dutch people are constantly complaining, just like that the Dutch would walk en masse in clogs and all Belgians would only be friendly people.
It is usually assumed that the older people have a paid-off house, which is not the case and the people with a defined contribution scheme (pension) generally have a dredger pension of only a few hundred euros after a lifetime of work. So with a younger partner total just over d 1100 euros incl aow and there are quite a few. This also applies to the future with a defined contribution scheme.
https://www.rtlz.nl/finance/personal-finance/na-een-leven-lang-werken-maar-350-euro-pensioen-maand
Statistics show that since about 1997, the profits of the companies were no longer shared equally between the company/management and the employees. This applies to many countries. The economy is growing, but the earnings benefit the companies much more. These do not invest in people, but in technologies that make employees redundant, eg robotisation. In addition, companies invest in other companies (buying/selling shares; mergers). The existing shareholders (many more companies, investors and much less the small investor) benefit from this, but not the employee or Jan Modaal. The small investors benefit more than the employees and thus capital is increased at the expense of the labor factor. The expectation is that the American companies that will now pay much less tax will mainly try to buy out unwilling shareholders (such as Chinese, Mexicans) or buy back their shares. The average American doesn't notice this at all and it doesn't provide an extra job either.
With a more capitalist government (almost everywhere in Europe, in America and in Asia), the situation will not change for the time being, in my estimation.
Employees will probably get a few crumbs in the coming years (necessary because small and medium-sized businesses live off consumer spending) that obscure the fact that a lot of money is being made behind the scenes by companies and their shareholders, more or less facilitated by liberal governments. .
And who are those investors? Right, your and my pension funds, insurers, little banks. That fat man in a striped suit with a thick cigar was already an outdated image during Troelstra's SDAP.
I agree with you, but what's the solution? Do we have to accept this passively and grumbling or do we take to the barricades?
All production employees, etc., go home, replaced by robots and introduce a basic wage? In Finland they are already experimenting with it and quite successfully I understand.
https://joop.bnnvara.nl/nieuws/finland-test-onvoorwaardelijke-basisinkomen-en-weerlegt-belangrijk-argument-critici
€540 per month…
If you want to smash your own windows on those barricades…?
One of the solutions is a new type of economy that is not based on money and growth. A lot of work is being done on this in many countries. Just Google p2p networks and commons economy.
Economy…. most people remember being triggered by something, but that this was not a sound coming from a clock…. not to mention where the clapper hangs. Yes, the economy is “running like a charm”, in other words: a growth of…
According to the first calculation, GDP (of the second quarter of 2) was 2017 percent higher than in the second quarter of 3,3. A staggering three, point, three %
The depreciation must first be settled there, and overdue maintenance over the last 8+ years (A'dam: € 5 BILLION in overdue maintenance of the quays, because carts and trucks with 40-1 tons, but tearing around with 3 ton combis).
Then the population growth, because it refers to the total population, and then the salaries of teachers, police, military, cracks in Groningen houses, etc.
What then remains ... really no 25% higher salaries and certainly no pension, which depend on the 20-25% investment and the remaining return on investments, which have been disappointing for years. Incidentally: due to the same low interest rate, the joint (=State) debt interest has also become a joke. Imagine only +1% higher interest on that € 470 billion, and you have the amount of cuts, where Wilders ran for the Catshuis instead of daring to confront the CDA.
Dividing left or right is nothing more than ignoring obligations, so that the others fall short and sometimes vote with their feet. The strip from Lanaken to Kapelle is full of still working NLe (tax) refugee houses. The non-working rest is in Spain, Thailand, etc
Finally: what are you going to do as a pensioner in Thailand, so emphatically for living there with a lower cost of living, what is going on in NL resp. the EU happens? It is high time to adjust social benefits, including state pension, to the cost-of-living principle.
Dear Harrybr,
A few years ago I also thought (before I left for Thailand) that the cost of living in Thailand would be less than in the Netherlands. I came home from a cold fair, because despite the fact that I have more net pension money, life in Thailand costs me more than before. If you live like the average Thai then the costs are less, but I am a Dutchman with my habits and customs, even though I have been deregistered. With, among other things, living in Thailand with your own home, car and motorbike and not just wanting to sit behind the Thai geraniums, the costs are certainly comparable and often even higher than those in the Netherlands.
I am also still very involved with my compatriots even with you . I usually have the best interests of people at heart and would like to ask you to do the same and to refrain from statements such as what is it to you as a pensioner what is happening in the Netherlands and/or the EU. It's a really nasty comment that many people here find offensive. But maybe your intention then I know enough.
If I also want tom jam khung, Chang Beer, Château de Loei and rice wine in NL instead of the local fare, I also pay considerably more. But.. that's your own choice, how you want to spend your money. Then don't complain that your expenses are considerably larger than the intention. As an old Dutch proverb says: "put your consumption to your business".
Harry does this mean that a person is no longer free to choose what he wants to do with his money? Where does he want to live? And what choices do people make in life? Did I work for that all these years? Does it hurt you whether I live in a big or small house?
Costs of living are not a stripe lower in Thailand than in the Netherlands, electricity, internet, gas, etc. cost the same, and you have a slightly nicer house than in the Netherlands for the same money. On the other hand, you pay your blue in health insurance premiums, and you don't get any surcharges here.
Below the line there is no difference in costs, so why adjust AOW?
Unfortunately, that law was amended too late. Just like the state pension age, it is linked to life expectancy, as already included in that law in 1954, but only recently applied.
Harrybr
A bit of a messy article, which I won't respond to. Do I have to go through all the so-called connections and statements of yours and I don't feel like doing that for a while.
As for the last comment. Every Dutch person who sooner or later is entitled to his/her AOW is completely free to spend this benefit, where he/she finds it most comfortable, for whatever reason.
It is none of Harrytbr's or anyone's business, and certainly the Dutch government, how someone wishes to spend their AOW. I have not yet been able to catch even the communist SP in such an error of thought.
Let's take a look at what the AOW was once set up for: see http://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0002221/2018-01-01 : Article 2: Resident within the meaning of this law is the person who lives in the Netherlands.
After all, the entire old-age income legislation has been set up to provide people with an income in their old age independent of income from work or other sources and based on the cost of living. This is contrary to older legislation and views.
Why should the Legislator (in due course, because AOW is based on a CURRENT (amendment of) law) not be allowed to add a provision that this income depends on the cost of living in the area where one has it or even in one's own ( Euro ) country should be issued ? After all, money comes from the CURRENT economy and not from the past, as a private pension DOES. (don't give Wilders cs any ideas: all Moroccans and Turks would suddenly fall by the wayside)
see e.g. pages 7-8-9 https://www.ser.nl/~/media/files/internet/educatie/scriptieprijs/scriptieprijs_2010/bouwmeester_volledige_scriptie.ashx
Yes Joseph, you summed that up nicely. Yesterday, in a parliamentary debate in The Hague, the proposal of 50+ was made to relax the rules regarding the 'fantasy' discount rate, to which the pension funds are bound, for the next 5 years, so that pensioners, after years of being cut or not indexed, can pension would also benefit at least minimally from the current economic progress. The proposal did not make it, the PvdA also voted against. The expression 'blind seeing and deaf hearing' applies to many politicians. There is of course economic progress, but purchasing power has hardly increased even for workers with an average income due to the increased cost of living. Nevertheless, more money is being spent, because of the positive reporting people feel it is easier to handle money. And partly because house prices have risen sharply, homeowners consider themselves richer than they are, the value is of course in the bricks and not in your wallet. Economics is indeed not an exact science and all those economists often disagree with each other.
The world economy is doing well. But you are talking about something else, you are talking about politics. This is even harder to understand, especially if you don't know the real backgrounds. Thailand is not booming, just appearances, also a matter of police social policy.
It's not all that difficult. The pensions are a private insurance. In principle, the government has nothing to do with it. But the Dutch government has drawn up rules that pension funds must comply with to ensure that pensions remain affordable in the future. The main 'culprit' is Mr Draghi, who artificially keeps interest rates low by spending billions. This to keep the Southern European countries afloat. The second is economic growth. With strong economic growth, wage increases must come from employers, not from the government. He can only fiddle a bit with tax rates and tax-free amounts. Whatever happened. But the salary increases, which lead to actual income increases, are beyond the government's control. Since the unions can no longer get through 1 door with the employers, and can no longer make a real fist due to a sharply declining membership, you see that this increase in income, unjustly, lags behind in favor of the profits of the companies.
This whole thing about how well the economy is doing is crazy. One day you read that the economy is doing well (while many don't have a penny left) and the next it's bad again, a week later it's good again.
How can that change so quickly? I thought this was only possible with bitcoin! 🙂
A good indicator is the sale of new cars. This applies to both the Netherlands and Thailand. And the increase in holidays, yes also in Thailand. Look if both continue to increase, you know enough.
And something else that also counts: you won't hear me complaining because I'm doing well. So it is with everything. 9 out of 10 people don't complain so you don't hear them. Only the one you hear…
The baby boomers who are now all in their paid-off owner-occupied homes will soon come home from a rude awakening. People count themselves rich because house prices are currently sky-high. However, what people forget is that the grim reaper will soon visit this generation within now and in the short term. What are the consequences? That suddenly a huge bulk of houses is offered on the market at the same time. With the result that the heirs who counted themselves rich get the lid on their noses.
Speaking of state pension. If you are a Dutch citizen, living in Thailand, married to a foreign lady, then after having paid the maximum premium for 40 years, you can raise your hand every month for just 600 euros. So definitely no grease! And then be called a freeloader by snowflakes…
Van der Valk was/is not so much an economist as a shrewd businessman/family who in 1995 had to make a settlement with the tax of 213 million guilders because of tax evasion between 1989 and 1994.
I think Gerrit's unspoken credo is rather 'let others wave their hands cheaply and keep their mouths shut.
It is true that the population is not moving forward.
1% of the world saw their wealth grow by 87% last year.
Politics and business make so many compromises. The population is actually kept on the line.
What are we going to do about it as citizens??
Dear Radjin , What we should do about it is to stop expressing your dissatisfaction behind the computer and cell phones .
But once again with all of us, being the common man, taking to the streets to demonstrate properly.
And I don't see that happening yet.
The current generation is completely snowed under.
Trade unions have fewer members than in the past, and self-employed people have joined the ranks.
I call them Self-Employed Without Money.
Jan Beute.
If you look across Europe today, you will see almost the same opinion, which you can also find in many comments on Thailandblog NL.
Many feel disadvantaged or forgotten about politics and, like many in Europe, fall into an almost chronic dissatisfaction and grumbling culture.
According to them, not only the Rutte government is not doing well, there is also general dissatisfaction in other European countries about the governments that are supposedly to blame for the fate of these burden-bearers.
An almost comparable situation that also caused many in the 30s to give their vote to the wrong political parties out of anger, protest and disappointment.
Political populists, who, as in the 30s, eagerly take advantage of this new general dissatisfaction, and unfortunately successfully sell it with almost exactly the same means, discriminating and generalizing, without really solving problems.
Parties that discriminate or even preach hate can never solve economic problems, in fact, they mobilize with their hate preaching precisely those who are ready to turn their hatred into violence. But I assume that I see it all wrong according to these callers, which is why I eagerly await their opinion.
Here's an article with some economic explanation:
https://www.rtlz.nl/opinie/column/robin-fransman/beste-gepensioneerde-u-bent-rijker-dan-u-denkt
“One of the main reasons that a supplementary pension has not, or hardly, increased in the past 10 years is that we are all getting older. Those who live longer therefore also receive more pension. Each month that you live longer is an extra month of pension. Of course that has to be paid. This account is divided among all pension participants. Working people pay a little more premium, and the supplementary pension is now being increased less or not at all. That is not a decline when you look at what you will receive in pension throughout your life. Chances are it will be higher. But on an annual basis now it doesn't really last. Living longer has advantages and disadvantages.”
It's almost irrelevant. parties or the EU or the government, at most they mess around in the margins - it's because there is simply too much money for the demand - all those baby boomers have saved vigorously for their old age and then also complain about pensions remaining the same. The ancient law of supply and demand oversupply depresses the price of money = interest.
Will pass by itself once that entire generation of baby boomers, who also all live much too long for their pension money in guilders of the time, have ever died out. So all those complainers no longer experience that - see above the same with the political Thai jokes.
Moreover, all those pensioners have time to complain about anything and everything.
Such a positive and nuanced contribution. Also came up with a nice name under which you write. And your knowledge of economics is great, hats off. All those old farts, who have only filled the pot with guilders and now fully benefit from a generous payment in euros, must certainly make way for a younger generation as soon as possible. One thing is a pity, they too will one day be part of that group of pensionadas who have lived far too long. Perhaps set a maximum age to be reached and then a mandatory euthanasia at your own expense?