Growth: the Dutch national debate

In the fourth quarter of 2008 the open economy of the Netherlands was severely hit.

Looking back…… the Dutch economy had recovered from the dot.com crash in 2001 and seen some five years of prosperity. Our most important trading nations like Germany, with the port of Rotterdam as an important value driver, had stimulated the economy. Consumer spending was high, the housing market still growing. And, being strongly reliant on middle-sized companies, our economy was not immediately hit by the financial crises, which started in the US in 2007. The Dutch banks continued to provide as much financing as possible.

It did not take long for the financial crisis to start negatively impacting the "old" economy. The open Dutch economy, because of its dependency on the global economy and its trading nations in Europe, began to experience the multiplier effect of this dependency. Of course this is not a surprise. Reaction time always lags negative developments, certainly after a long period of prosperity. Compare this with a company facing financial difficulties. First the management has to recognise the difficulties, and sometimes ignore them, before the right decisions are taken.

Wiebe Draaijer is Chairman of the Sociaal Economische Raad (SER), the economic advisory council of the Dutch government. He has recently started a national debate on GROWTH. With a broad array of participants from government appointed members, to trade unions and employers’ organisations, it’s fun and games watching players fight for the lead, while politicians try to claim the fame.

The SER has a history of successfully stimulating economic growth through close co-operation of its council. The current debate is about identifying today’s engines for future growth. Can the politicians have a positive impact? Or is it the business environment that will provide the engine for growth? On a micro scale companies try to maintain sustainable growth, can this also count on a macro level? The world is an open economy and the Netherlands has a top 10 position, not bad for a small country.

At ACG we are all about driving middle-market growth, so we should play a role and have a say in this national debate on GROWTH. The board of ACG invites every member to speak up and actively participate. You can address your ideas and suggestions to Onno Sloterdijk.

Onno Sloterdijk
Board member ACG Holland