Room for Discussion

Although many of us have been sweltering this summer in what has been the hottest month ever recorded, international investors and market analysts have been sweating for different reasons. Dark clouds are looming over the global economy, as a No-Deal Brexit becomes ever more likely, the US-China trade war worsens, recession in several countries is bearing down, and central bankers are struggling t...

We are proud to announce we will be hosting Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator of the Financial Times, on the 15th of May. After having obtained his degree at Oxford, Wolf went to become a senior economist at the World Bank before turning to financial journalism. To understand Wolf’s influence, one must first understand his audience. They are dedicated Financial Times readers and as Wolf put...

Whoever thinks that investing is only to be done by means of buying and selling shares is wrong. Not only the rate of returns and stock prices are important when deciding what kind of shares to buy, but also the business that the company is actually doing is really important. How much do companies adhere to societal pressures and to what extent do they take their corporate social responsibility? M...

Kandidaten van de acht grootste partijen bij de meest recente verkiezingen: De kandidaten zijn niemand minder dan Arnout Hoekstra (SP), Tineke Strik (GroenLinks), Paul Tang (PvdA), Felix Klos (D’66), Anil Kumar (ChristenUnie/SGP), Chantal Hakbijl (CDA) Liesje Schreinemacher (VVD) en Frederik Jansen (FvD). Opzet van het debat: Er zal gedebatteerd worden over vier onderwerpen aan de hand van vier st...

De laatste Provinciale Statenverkiezingen hebben laten zien hoe versplinterd het Nederlandse politieke landschap is geworden. De gevestigde coalitiepartijen moeten nu een strategie bedenken – zo ook D66. Wordt het strijd – of wordt het polderen? Hoe zal de klimaatdrammer van D66 zich profileren tegenover de nieuwkomer in de Eerste Kamer en zijn anti-EU boodschap? Waar ligt de huidige ideologische...

They say two things are certain in life: death and taxes. In this session we shall be discussing the latter with the Dutch secretary of finance, Menno Snel. The fiscal regime in the Netherlands has been under large scrutiny lately, with the proposal for the abolishment of the dividend tax being scrapped and debate over the leniency towards multinational companies in the Netherlands. As well as tax...

ome of you might know him as the author of your microeconomics textbook, others because of his position as chief economist at Google. As a microeconomist prof. Varian has specialized in the role of information in the economy. Starting consulting for Google in 2002 he has been key to Google’s auction design system and corporate strategy. Google has radically changed the way we receive our informati...

Na tijden van bezuinigingen wordt er eindelijk weer meer geïnvesteerd in het Nederlandse leger; maar is het genoeg? Wat zijn de uitdagingen waar het Nederlandse leger voor staat de komende jaren? Zal door de bekoelde trans-Atlantische relatie de NAVO over een paar jaar nog bestaan? Moet er meer militaire samenwerking komen tussen EU landen?

How is climate change posing new challenges for our legal systems, policy-making, and how is it is being addressed in our courtrooms. We will discuss recent cases in the Netherlands such as Urgenda and Milieudefensie’s lawsuit against Royal Dutch Shell. To help us discuss this topics, we are joined by Prof. Dr. Joyeeta Gupta — co-chair of UN Environment’s Global Environmental Outlook-6 and Profess...

On paper, things have never looked better for female entrepreneurs. But statistical numbers only tell part of the story. Women-owned firms are still in the minority, and the hurdles faced by women who have embraced entrepreneurship are vast and often very different than those experienced by their male counterparts. To shed light on some of these disparities, Room for Discussion organizes a panel d...

On our first Brexit Session, we focused on the British perspective – the dire situation in parliament, the leadership challenges, and the political party splits. On this session, we will move onto Europe. What will be the economic impact of a No Deal Brexit? What should the way forward for European negotiators?

Pete Hoekstra serves as the United States Ambassador to the Netherlands but has formerly been a member of the U.S House of Representatives, and Chair of the House Intelligence Committee. In the interview, we will touch upon the relations between the Netherlands and The United States. We will try to understand the coherency or potential incoherency of American foreign policy in places such as Venez...

Space exploration has been a token of global leadership since the Cold War. However, private companies are increasingly seeing space as a new market outside of our planetary boundaries. With the emergence of astropreneurship, the market structure in the space industry has changed drastically. Companies such as SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic have been able to cut costs through technologica...

Three years ago the united kingdom – in an extremely close referendum – voted to leave the European Union. Since then the country has gone through what experts have called the gravest political crisis in contemporary British history. With parties split on the issue, challenges to the current government and constant impasses over – until recently – generally unheard issues. The question many are as...

Feike Sijbesma is a Member of the Board of Royal DSM since July 2000, and CEO and Chairman since May 2007. Royal DSM is a Dutch multinational active in the fields of health, nutrition, and materials. Headquartered in Heerlen, at the end of 2017 DSM employed 21,054 people in around 50 countries and posted net sales of €8,632 million. Besides being the CEO of Royal DSM, Sijbesma is a member of the S...

Tijdens dit interview zal gesproken worden over hoe het Nederlands zorgstelsel sinds 2006 drastisch is veranderd door de marktwerking in de zorg. De concurrentie tussen zorgverzekeraars en zorgaanbieders moet leiden tot lagere kosten in de zorg en betere kwaliteit om de stijgende zorgkosten behapbaar te houden. Functioneert de marktwerking zodanig goed dat dat ook wordt bereikt? Kunnen we spreken...

Currently, there are multiple countries at risk of an economic crisis. Severe drops in the values of their domestic currencies are drastically altering and changing the country’s economic performance. On December 10th, Room for Discussion hosted an interview with Nora Neuteboom, an economist for ABN Amro, and Professor Sweder van Wijnbergen. The interview will cover “Crushed Currencies,” and the t...

There are many discrepancies between the member states within the eurozone about the direction this monetary union should take. With Germany and France trying to lead the ship towards a clear destination, and other member states struggling to catch up, the future of the eurozone seems unclear, and maybe even in danger. The coming years will be crucial for the future of this monetary union, but whi...

During this interview we explore the most effective policies to make refugees well integrated, productive and profitable members of society in the most efficient way. The primary focus revolves around current policies within Europe, the best ways to integrate refugees into the workforce and the limits of integration policies During this one-hour interview we are eager to answer these questions tog...

We are happy to receive Professor Robert Koopman, the Chief Economist of the World Trade Organisation in October for an interview on international trade. The interview falls into a time in which the liberal world trade order is shaken by the ongoing trade war between the two largest economies of the world, the United States and the Peoples Republic of China.

For our second lustrum interview, we have invited the former European Commissioner for Competition and Vice-president of the Commission for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes. The interview focusses on several pressing topics in the European Union right know, such as the upcoming populist-nationalist political parties vs the cosmopolitan status quo parties. Furthermore, we will discuss with Ms. Kroe...

We are honored to have Carles Puigdemont, former President of Catalonia, at Room for Discussion. A year ago on October 1st, 2017, Carles Puigdemont appeared in the headlines of international newspapers after having organized the unofficial referendum for secession of Spain. Not only was this referendum considered controversial as it was declared illegal by the Constitutional Court of Spain, but al...

To kickoff the new academic year Room for Discussion interviewed Marjan van Loon, President-Director Shell Netherlands, on the 12th of September. During this one-hour interview, we discuss the role that Shell is playing within the Netherlands. Shell has been one of the biggest Dutch employers for years, but also plays a vital role in the energy transition. Therefore, we discuss the role of Shell i...

Tien Jaar na de Financiële Crisis met Kees van Dijkhuizen (CEO ABN AMRO) en Arnoud Boot (hoogleraar Ondernemingsfinanciering en Financiële Markten) Op 15 september 2008 viel de Amerikaanse bank Lehman Brothers. Deze ondergang was het startschot van een verwoestende financiële crisis. In de mondiale kettingreactie die deze val veroorzaakte werd geen bank gespaard van de schokgolven die door de kapi...

Room for Discussion is vereerd om aan te kondigen dat tijdens de Universiteitsdag Geert ten Dam, voorzitter van het College van Bestuur van de Universiteit van Amsterdam, bij ons te gast zal zijn! Tijdens het interview zullen wij de Universiteit van Amsterdam als onderzoeksinstituut en educatiecentrum analyseren. Hierbij zullen wij bespreken hoe de organisatie zichzelf gaat positioneren binnen onz...