Since the financial crisis in 2008, the notion of a “bail out” has become something of a household term. But what about a bail in? Assistant professor Christiaan van der Kwaak researches the Eurozone, the 19 EU states that use the euro, and he says that there are still some fundamental flaws in the system feeding calls for exiting the union. Something has to give: either more nations will attempt to follow the UK’s lead and walk away from the EU, or reforms will have to be put in place to salvage the system. Van Der Kwaak says that a common EU budget could offer a way out of the current prisoner’s dilemma, but to what extent is the Dutch government prepared to get behind that idea?

Associate professor Jochen Mierau’s background is in economics, but as a founding member of the Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health, he is applying his expertise to a new discipline. Health outcomes vary from one nation to the next, but zooming in on the level of neighbourhoods can shed light on best practices that can be applied on a city or regional level. Mierau says that public health is not a spectator sport, and in our conversation about the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of this academic field, in honour of the school’s namesake, he talks about how health care interventions effectively amount to a form of activism.

Microcredit was a major buzzword in the world of development aid in recent years, being breathlessly praised as a breakthrough panacea. But our guest today, professor Robert Lensink of the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Groningen, says that providing small amounts of financial support to individuals and projects can still be an effective tool, like most other trends, some bad actors took advantage of it and exploited the men and women on the receiving end. Microfinance can still be a powerful tool when its recipients are equipped with the right tools to protect themselves, but what is the effectiveness of other forms of intervention? Can aid ever be a true silver bullet, or does the entire system need to change first? Professor Lensink sat down with Econ 050 to discuss about the pros and cons of intervention.

YouTube, Netflix, Google, Facebook: these digital platforms and services have all become seemingly indispensable and inescapable parts of modern life. But how much do users truly value ostensibly free online services? How much would it be worth to you to walk away from them? That often depends strongly on how you use it. Associate professor Felix Eggers found out that for the average person, 50 dollars a month was enough to convince them to unfriend Facebook for a month. Eggers contributed to research looking into the value of not using digital platforms, which is something quite different from the value of using them, and came up with a new way to measure the economic impact of platforms where the users themselves may be the most valuable product of all.

The Netherlands sees itself as an extremely equitable country, which is not entirely without cause: it was one of the first in the world to legalize gay marriage and provides at least some paternal leave. But when it comes to achieving genuine equality in the work place – not just between men and women, but also between majority and minority groups – professor Floor Rink says that this country still has a long way to go. Over the years, her research into organisational behaviour and leadership has examined the role of mentorship, how gender roles from a young age influence hiring practices and how transparency can push companies to put their money where their mouth is when it comes to diversity initiatives. We sat down in the studio to talk about how the glass ceiling forms far earlier for minorities, and how having any hope of getting rid of it will require recognising that it exists in the first place.

For young professionals in particular, starting a new job can feel like grasping in the dark. The uncertainty of trying to figure out your place in a complex work environment can become very stressful very quickly. You may feel like you have to say “yes” to everything that is asked of you, but does being involved in multiple projects at your workplace ultimately improve or worsen your job performance? Can sticking your neck out and volunteering to take on more work end up backfiring? Assistant professor Joost van de Brake looked into all of these questions in his recent research, and sat down with Econ 050 to discuss ways that employers may be able to provide more certainty for their staff in a dynamic work place. 

Being an immigrant, a teenage mother or a child born into poverty can dramatically impact your health throughout your entire life. The Netherlands is perceived internationally as an equitable country with a thriving middle class, and that is mostly true, but income inequality is growing, and more and more people are finding themselves in poverty even as the economy booms. It can take four generations for someone born into low socio-economic status to reach average earning levels, and even if you manage that feat, poverty and hardship in your formative years, or even before you were born, can lead to health problems like cardiovascular issues and depression later in life. Associate professor Viola Angelini’s research examines how life course factors like childhood hardship manifest themselves throughout our lives, even if we manage to be upwardly mobile, so I sat down with her to hear more about how generational poverty actually works.

Financial security is not the only measure of the welfare of a population. Safety, access to housing, medical care and education are just as important to your sense of well-being. But on a regional level, those can be somewhat misleading indicators: it was announced a few months ago that the inhabitants of Drenthe were the happiest and wealthiest in the Netherlands, even though the province has long had fairly limited job opportunities. Part of the reported satisfaction levels came from access to unspoiled nature, but more of was due to the fact that there were a disproportionate number of retirees living there. Recent research has also found that people with a recent migrant background and those without higher education feel that they do not experience the same degree of equality as other Dutch people. So how is globalization influencing people’s satisfaction with life and job opportunities in the north? Professor Marcel Timmer, who will be joining the board of the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, sat down with Econ 050 to talk about the region’s place in the country and the world.

What is the difference between lobbying and buying influence? Since 2002, it has been legal in the United Kingdom for sitting politicians to hold board positions at private companies and serve on committees or propose legislation that could directly impact those companies. The reasoning given for these political hires is that familiarity with the inner workings of an industry make them a better informed politician, and that the skills that many politicians develop – strong networks, working together with different shareholders – make them a good fit for corporate board membership. But the companies that have a sitting MP on their board are likelier to have higher than average profits, and those that hire ex-politicians don’t experience the same bump. Assistant professor Swarnodeep Homroy looked into just how much a closer professional relationship between politicians and industry can be beneficial for those companies, and whether or not that’s a good idea.

What does it mean to make it in the north? Is it as simple as starting your own business or finding a job, or does it mean feeling truly accepted and supported in your professional and personal endeavours? There are thousands of internationals living in Groningen, Drenthe and Friesland, many of whom came to the region for their careers. But what are the companies and institutions that brought them here in the first place? On the 11th of July, the Make it in the North project will be launching a new professional platform to bring together talented internationals and internationally-minded companies in the region. I sat down with Michiel Kasteleijn from the international Welcome Centre North and Philippe Hondelink, the district secretary for Koninklijk Metaalunie to talk about what make it in the north projects all about what the new platform aims to achieve and what kind of unique challenges and opportunities face foreign professionals in the north.