Over the past century, the capitalist model of the free market economy has demonstrated to be an effective vehicle to create wealth. However, in today’s globalised world, the downsides of this model have become more and more obvious: ecological decay, increasing inequality worldwide, financialisation, inadequate resource allocations and a new geopolitical power balance. The credit crisis of 2008, and more recently, the coronacrisis, have further exposed these issues. To create an innovative, inclusive and sustainable market economy for generations to come, we need new values, new structures and new practices. We need to connect existing innovative ideas with newly formulated ones and bring theory into reality. How can the freedom and innovative potential of free markets be squared with the requirements of ecological sustainability and social justice and inclusivity?
Through a series of ten public online dialogues with visionary economists including Ann Pettifor, Mohammed Yunus and Paul Collier, VU Amsterdam aims to offer solutions and bring together researchers from around the world to rethink capitalism. This Future Markets Consultation will result in a final report written under the auspices of Jan-Peter Balkenende, former Prime Minister of the Netherlands. To kick off the series, we have invited him and Sandra Phlippen, chief economist at ABN AMRO Bank, to go into dialogue about the necessity for a sustainable, green and inclusive economy.
Note: this component of the program will be in Dutch.
In the first edition of the series, we welcome Joseph Stiglitz and Herman van Rompuy in order to explore what the big challenges for the longterm future of the (European) market economy/economies are. What are the key problems with today’s capitalism and what is needed for a change toward a new form of capitalism/market economies, that are both humanly and ecologically sustainable? Is there a possibility for a distinct European model of capitalism, that can meet these demands?
Note: this component of the program will be in English.
