Fortune (December 12)
“It’s always better in geopolitics to move in packs—and the U.S. just picked up some welcome company in its aggressive assault on China’s tech industry…. With Japan and the Netherlands now on board, all three of the world’s primary producers of chipmaking machinery have now taken aim at China.”
Tags: Aggressive, Assault, China, Chipmaking machinery, Geopolitics, Japan, Netherlands, Packs, Primary producers, Tech industry, U.S.
BBC (July 20)
“Heat records tumbled and firefighters faced new blazes as much of Western Europe baked in a gruelling heatwave.” The UK “saw temperatures of more than 40C (104F) for the first time.” Germany had “its hottest day of the year,” as did the Netherlands, while in France “37,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes” due to wildfires. In the past week, Portugal alone has recorded “more than 1,000 heatwave-related deaths.”
Tags: Blazes, Deaths, Firefighters, France, Germany, Gruelling, Heat, Heatwave, Netherlands, Portugal, Records, Temperatures, UK, Western Europe, Wildfires
The Economist (December 14)
“Mandatory quotas for women on company boards” are gaining traction “after softer targets failed to move the needle much.” The Netherlands was the latest country to “join seven European countries (and California) in replacing the carrot of ‘please’ with the stick of ‘or else’ to increase gender diversity.”
Tags: Boards, California, Carrot, Europe, Gender diversity, Mandatory, Netherlands, Quotas, Softer targets, Stick, Women
Financial Times (February 14)
“Official figures from the Dutch investment agency show 42 companies relocated to the Netherlands last year citing Brexit as the reason. The investment has resulted in 1,923 jobs and €290m in investment. Sony and Panasonic have also announced plans to set up their European headquarters in the country.” But the good news may not last. “The Netherlands is likely to be one of the biggest EU losers from a hard Brexit given the close trading links between the two countries especially in fresh produce and the importance of Rotterdam, Europe’s busiest port, to British trade.”
Tags: Brexit, EU, Headquarters, Investment, Losers, Netherlands, Panasonic, Port, Rotterdam, Sony, UK
The Economist (June 4)
Swiss voters will go to the polls on Sunday to decide whether to adopt a basic income for all citizens. Smaller experiments are underway in Finland and the Netherlands, but fundamentally “basic income is an answer to a problem that has not yet materialized…. A universal basic income might just make sense in a world of technological upheaval. But before governments begin planning for a world without work, they should strive to make today’s system function better.
Tags: Basic income, Experiments, Finland, Governments, Netherlands, Switzerland, Technological upheaval, Universal, Voters
Bloomberg (January 22, 2014)
Bloomberg released its annual rankings of the best countries for business in 2013 and these were 1. Hong Kong, 2. Canada, 3. U.S., 4. Singapore, 5. Australia, 6. Germany, 7. United Kingdom, 8. Netherlands, 9. Spain and 10. Sweden. Japan slid from #3 in 2012 to #12, but still finished ahead of South Korea (#13) and China (#28).
Tags: Australia, Business, Canada, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Netherlands, Ranking, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, U.S., UK
Financial Times (April 27)
The Spanish people were willing to suffer austerity when Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy “sent the people of Spain a message of hope for the future.” Now the hope is gone and “Mr Rajoy finds himself in an impossible situation. For all the talk of European solidarity, the EU has insisted that his deficit-reduction plan should proceed at an excessive pace. This was bound to trigger a popular backlash.” A similar backlash is rising up in Italy and the Netherlands. “Citizens may have been favourable to their initial message of austerity for a higher cause, but they will not tolerate being led into a dead-end.”
Tags: Austerity, Deficit reduction, EU, Italy, Netherlands, Rajoy, Spain
