02-02-2019: The establishment of public branch corporations
Author: E.A. Bakkum
The present column presents a complete picture of the manner, in which after the end of the Second Worldwar the public branch corporations (in Dutch publiekrechtelijke bedrijfsorganen, in short PBO) were established. They aim to order the economy, and are lead by the social economic council (in short SER). During this period the governments are dominated by the roman-red coalitions of social-democrats (PvdA) and catholics (KVP). In 1950 both the Law on the PBO and the Law on the OR (industrial councils) are published. A large part of the entrepreneurs dislikes the PBO, because they fear the dominance of the general interest .... Read more
20-01-2019: Empirical laws in happiness economics
Author: E.A. Bakkum
A merit of the new discipline of happiness economics is that various new empirical laws have been discovered, that describe human behaviour. The present column gives a summary of some laws, by means of four recent books: Happiness and economics by Bruno Frey et al., Happiness quantified by Bernard van Praag et al., Happiness by Richard Layard, and Economics, ethics and the market by Johan Graafland. Notably it is studied how happiness, utility and satisfaction relate to welfare, work and income, politics, ethics, and the neoliberal dogma .... Read more
15-01-2019: Ethics in happiness economics
Author: E.A. Bakkum
Ultimately human life is a search for meaning. The common economics believes unjustly that the solution is found in the accumulation of wealth. This column presents several new insights from the happiness economics. They are taken from the books Economics, ethics and the market by Johan Graafland and Happiness by Richard Layard. An early predecessor of happiness economics is the ethics of the historical materialism, which is elaborated in Ethik und materialistische Geschichtsauffassung by Karl Kautsky .... Read more
04-01-2019: The socialist paradigm around 1950
Author: E.A. Bakkum
In previous columns it is described how around 1930 the social-democracy experiences an identity crisis, especially in Germany and Italy, but also elsewhere in Europe. The theme of the socialization does not catch on, and the fascism dictates the order. The present column analyzes the recovery of the social-democracy in the following twenty years. The study consults three ideological works, that were published at the time. It concerns Ordening der wereldproductie by Wibaut, Ordening als socialistische etappe by Van den Tempel (Jr.), and International economic integration by Tinbergen .... Read more
29-12-2018: Notes for an open economy with variable prices
Author: E.A. Bakkum
In the book Economic policy: principles and design the well-known economist Jan Tinbergen shows that the state can develop a policy for controlling the economy. The policy consists of a set of goals, and the corresponding instruments. The present column describes two models with variable prices and foreign trade, which allow to analyze the policy. The price elasticities are also taken into account. Besides, the first model contains a system of taxes. The models are copied from the mentioned book .... Read more