Room for Discussion

Listen to our new interview with the Ambassador of the United States to the Netherlands. Firstly, we will be addressing the uprising in the aftermath of the brutal killing of George Floyd, while then moving on to focus on domestic and foreign policy during and after this pandemic. For most people, it seems worrisome and obvious that the tensions between China and The United States are, and will continue to be, record high. Although we have little impact on the foreign and domestic policy of the world’s biggest super powers from our homes, we can offer the opportunity to listen in and engage with with these super power’s international representatives.
Please submit your own questions that you would like answered, and we will provide a nuanced, albeit critical, discussion on the foreseeable political order that will emerge from this pandemic.
MAX GAAT DIT NOG AANPASSEN

We welcomed Olivier Blanchard to Room for Discussion. Described by the Washington Post as 'The Smartest Economist You've Never Heard Of', Dr. Blanchard is as serious an economist as they come. He served as Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund during the financial crisis and euro debt crises, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, one of the top think tanks in the world regarding macroeconomic policy.
As the economical consequences of the Corona-crisis were unfolding gradually, there was no better time to have a discussion with one of the leading macroeconomists, who has spent seven years in Washington as chief economist at the IMF, starting at the heights of the 2008 financial crisis. During this period at the Fund, Blanchard is known for his pro-Keynesian approaches and influences at the IMF, and as being responsible for ideological shifts in the field of macroeconomics. As Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz put it: “Olivier’s played an important role in opening up the Fund to a whole new set of ideas.”
What exactly were these ideas, and how do we see their influence today? With Blanchard, one of the most cited economists in the world, we opened up the debate about ideological arguments within macroeconomics, the approach of the IMF towards the economic crisis resulting from the pandemic, and his book about combatting inequality.
What should we, as students, know about the current crisis, and how do we put it into perspective with preceding crises?

Eindelijk is het zo ver! Na anderhalf jaar gaat Room for Discussion weer interviews houden op onze vertrouwde Chesterfieldbanken.

Wiegel (1941) werd op 30-jarige leeftijd lijsttrekker van de VVD. Een partij die hij door zijn befaamde toespraken over 'de mensen in het land' voor het eerst meer dan 20 zetels liet halen tijdens de verkiezingen van een jaar later. Tijdens het kabinet-Den Uyl stond Wiegel bekend als gevat politicus en leidde hij de felle oppositie tegen het linkse beleid van de PvdA-premier. Tijdens het daaropvolgende kabinet-Van Agt I schopte Wiegel het tot jongste vicepremier die Nederland ooit gehad heeft en, naar eigen zeggen, beste premier die Nederland nooit gehad heeft. Tegenwoordig schrijft de gepensioneerde Wiegel columns in De Telegraaf en is hij regelmatig te gast als politiek analist bij omroep WNL.

In 2010 was Wiegel ook al te gast om het te hebben over de turbulente politieke situatie waar Nederland zich toen in begaf. Elf jaar later beleeft diezelfde politiek opnieuw een dieptepunt en geven we de analyses van de heer Wiegel opnieuw een podium. Hoe duidt Wiegel de ongeëvenaarde impasse van deze kabinetsformatie? Welke parallellen trekt hij met zijn tijd in de politiek? Waarom voelen zo velen op rechts zich genoodzaakt een nieuwe partij te starten? Welke rol speelt premier Rutte hierin?

Listen to Room for Discussion’s interview with one of the current leading political economist and author of critically-acclaimed “Why Nations Fail”; Daron Acemoglu. The interview will be 45 minutes and in that time we will cover two main topics. First of all, we will discuss his view on the political and economic development of China. Thereafter the discussion continues towards the European Union and why he thinks that this ‘nation’ will not fail because of its inclusive institutions.

Few academic books ever become bestsellers, and even fewer dramatically change global political discussions. Prof. Piketty’s Capital in the 21st Century (2013) did both. The book traced the history of income and wealth inequality in the developed world, arguing that inequality is an important feature – and not an accident- of capitalism. Most importantly, his work brought economic inequality back to the centre of political discussion.

It was an honour to have Professor Piketty join us for the second time at Room for Discussion! This time the topic of the interview was his newest book: Capital and Ideology (2019). In this new work, he argues from a historical and global perspective that inequality is not economic or technological, it is ideological and political. As such, it is fundamentally founded in the battle of ideas. The interview discusses these views and more, offering a short but insightful summary of over 1000 pages of Piketty's craft.

2020 was a year of crisis and shock, and there is still much about how the pandemic will change our societies that we do not know. We're talking to Tom Standage, deputy editor at the Economist, to get an insight into how the repercussions of this past year could play out. Mr. Standage has a degree in computer science and engineering and he has been a science and technology writer for The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph. His role at The Economist focuses on the website, the application, and its digital platform. Given his areas of expertise, we'll be asking him some big picture questions about technological change over the past 30 years, the potential for a tech-led productivity boom in the near future, and how this might interact with our society and our politics. We'll also discuss the state of journalism and public debate today, and how these have been impacted by the pandemic.

Mrs. Hirsi Ali spent her youth in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Kenya before seeking asylum in the Netherlands. In that country, she received the refugee status and fought her way to Leiden University where she studied political sciences. She became a protagonist in the fight for (Muslim) women’s rights, including the fight against forced marriages and female genital mutilation. Starting at the Dutch Labour Party (PvdA), she soon switched to the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) where she was elected to parliament to continue her fight.

In 2004, she received worldwide media attention when the Dutch film and documentary maker Theo van Gogh was shot and stabbed to death on the Linnaeusstraat in Amsterdam after he helped her making the controversial Islam-critical documentary Submission. A note stabbed on Mr. Van Gogh’s chest constituted a death threat to Mrs. Hirsi Ali.

Two years later in 2006, a documentary by the Dutch tv-show Zembla ‘exposed’ that Mrs. Hirsi Ali had lied during her application process for the refugee status. This made the Minister of Integration at that time – Rita Verdonk – take away her passport before giving it back after negotiations with Prime Minister Balkenende. These occurrences eventually led to the fall of the second Balkenende cabinet. Since 2006, Mrs. Hirsi Ali has lived in the United States where she started working for the American Enterprise Institute, founded the AHA Foundation and became a common guest at American national media. Nowadays, Mrs. Hirsi Ali is a fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution.

During our interview, we will touch upon Mrs. Hirsi Ali’s incredible past, her current views on socio-cultural and political issues and her ideas on the future for both the western and Islamic world.

How can we incentivize businesses to act sustainably? Are multinationals the problem or solution to climate change? What are the social responsibilities of large corporations?
Paul Polman, former CEO of consumer goods multinational Unilever, is a leading figure in the corporate sustainability movement. Since his departure from Unilever, he has founded the IMAGINE organization to eradicate poverty, lessen inequality and help companies to become more sustainable.
Room for Discussion has invited Polman to talk about his efforts to transform Unilever, the social responsibilities of corporations and the future of capitalism.

Interviewers: Max Boogaard (@max.boogaard) and Sarah Bronkhorst (@saarbronkhorst)

Branko Milanovic is one of the leading experts on income inequality and poverty. Formerly a lead economist at the research department of the World Bank, he now teaches at the City University of New York and London School of Economics, amongst others. He is perhaps most well known for publishing the ‘hottest’ chart in economics, the famous elephant curve, which describes how globalization has affected the global income distribution over the last 30 years. The basic message is that whilst between-country inequality has decreased, within-country inequality has increased. This research had a big impact on our understanding of inequality and it remains crucial to answering the pressing questions of how we can reduce inequality and what trends we can expect in the coming years.

He has written multiple books on globalization and its consequences. In his most recent book ‘Capitalism, alone’, he argues that capitalism is the only mode of production existent in the world right now and explores the different types of capitalism, as well as the relationship between capitalism and democracy. What type of capitalism is most beneficial for humans? Are these two modes of capitalism at war with each other, or are they going to be? And what does this all mean for the future of democracy? These are some of the biggest questions one could ask and with Mr. Milanovic, we’ll try at the very least to get a better idea of how we could begin to answer them.

The Covid-19 Pandemic, a once in a lifetime economic recession, and digitalization. These are issues that everyone has heard about. Tied to all of these issues, however, is a little known but important financial institution - the Bank for International Settlements. Also known as the “Central Bank of Central Banks”, the BIS’s role in all these issues is crucial but little understood.

Why do we need a Central Bank for Central Banks and how can the BIS help in addressing the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and digitalization? Join us for a discussion with the Head of Monetary and Economic Department at the BIS - Claudio Borio - to find out more.

Disclaimer: On the day of the interview we had trouble with our microphones. That is why the audio is double for most of the interview. Sincere apologies we are working on solving this issue for future interviews.