The port of Rotterdam as an economic engine
The Netherlands is doing very well economically and now even has the most competitive economy in Europe. This puts us ahead of Germany and Switzerland in the ranking of the World Economic Forum (WEF). The Netherlands is now fourth behind the new number one: Singapore. The United States and Hong Kong are in the top three. Belgium is in 22nd place and Thailand at number 40.
In the Netherlands it is relatively easy to set up a company, our infrastructure is good and our companies are innovative.
According to the WEF, there is a lot of attention for entrepreneurship, both in secondary schools and universities. Other points with which the Netherlands scores are stable government finances and strong institutions such as the independent judiciary. The working population is also well educated.
There are points for improvement, such as long-term innovation, investments in research, ICT and technical developments such as artificial intelligence. This lags far behind countries such as Germany, Switzerland and the US, which invest a lot of money in them.
The top 10 ranking:
- Singapore
- United States
- Hong Kong SAR
- Netherlands
- Switzerland
- Japan
- Germany
- Sweden
- United Kingdom
- Denmark
Source: NOS.nl
And the big question is of course: Thanks to the euro or despite the euro?
And how much difference and since when? Is NL slightly ahead of the others or is something lagging behind?
Something like a peloton finish after a long Tour ride?
Rotterdam, transit port for the hinterland, things are not going well in Europe at all, interest rates are negative and the EURO is worth nothing.
Germany is also in dire straits, supply companies for the car industry are being moved to low-wage countries, Hungary, Serbia and the rest of the Balkans.
Germany's engine begins to stutter.
We see lists coming by every day, Dutch citizens are the happiest in Europe.
Dutch citizens most satisfied in Europe, while you are picked from all sides.
Growth of the Dutch economy, forecast, 3%, what will be left of it soon, think 0,9%.
We are served all sorts of things in the Netherlands.
Reality looks different, keep thinking of the words of Pim Fortuyn.
Blessed are the simple-minded. You don't have to think, they think for you.
Germany has been hit hard in recent years.
– The “cheat diesels” in VW, BMW and Mercedes have not done the industry any good. Very high fines and compensation for American drivers! When will that happen for the Netherlands?
– Due to the trade war between America and China, the German car industry was hit hard and the
sales back due to the strongly increased sales prices of expensive cars
There is also something to be said for the Netherlands. This week on TV a program from the labor inspection,
with many unskilled foreign workers working underpaid and unregistered. (3 to 5 euros per hour!)
Despite the economic growth, the number of homeless people (see A'dam) and the food banks are increasing.
This will be the 11th year in a row that pensioners will not receive indexation or other compensation, but an expected inflation for 2019 of 2,7 percent!
What surprises me most about this news is that pensions have to be costed at the same time. You no longer receive interest on your savings and that you have to pay more and more premiums for healthcare costs. So the money just flows back up as usual. Yes, our cabinet takes very good care of the large entrepreneurs and banks…
If something “flows” upwards, it is called evaporation, nothing remains at the bottom.
No money, but care and debts for many.
The stability of public finances is cited as one of the reasons for the good score. The plagued pension funds certainly also contribute to this through the obligation of DNB (Nederlandse Bank) to invest at least a quarter of their capital (currently about 1400 to 1500 billion) in government bonds, which, given the low interest rates, are hardly yield returns.
I find these kinds of studies to be in the “happiness is a warm gun” category, as interpreted by the Beatles.
The VVD, with Rutte in the lead, is hopping along, and at the same time I see my city Amsterdam rapidly going into chaos.
Natives are a minority in the city, unaffordable rents, expats and tourists who occupy the city and a working class that staggers from 0-hour contract to 0-hour contract, and still can't make ends meet.. Not to mention the degradation of social services, including pensions, old days where there is no room for them, and everything and everyone is ground up in the globalizing money juggernaut.
We have been living in the Netherlands (Amsterdam) since March, and especially now that the "nasty" season has started, my Thai wife often asks me: "Why is nobody smiling?".
Flourishing economy. Destroys more than you love, especially for most people who have to live in it.
The list is about our place with an average of everything in the world, so we can complain about how bad we think we or others in NL have it, but globally we are doing very well and we have nothing to complain about.
And here we can also be proud of what our cabinet has achieved for decades. Many countries where no action has been taken because they were afraid of losing “Voters” are still in a bad position and have yet to bite the bullet.
The real problem of people is that people are never ever satisfied again, it always has to be bigger, nicer and thicker, especially outwardly, so even if we were number 1, we would still compare ourselves to others and be jealous .