Jaap van Duijn on migration, pensions, gold, muddling through the EU and bad economists

In this episode, Paul Buitink talks to Jaap van Duijn, former Robeco CEO, economist, professor by special appointment, advisor to various pension funds and columnist for the Telegraaf. Jaap is concerned about the political fragmentation in the Netherlands and is afraid that the elections will turn out to be another disappointment. On the contrary, he calls for more tolerance in our country, which used to be a 'country of compromise'.

Jaap is of the opinion that much of the ECB's policy stems from political interests, which is preferred over economic interests, with all the consequences that entails. He also makes it clear that the ECB's objective is price stability and not 2% inflation. In doing so, he indicates that the ECB, formerly with Draghi and now with Lagarde, is saving southern European countries in particular by reducing the costs of (high) government debt through inflation. Jaap also says he has not seen any research that shows that significantly less is consumed when there is less than 2% inflation. Later in the video, Paul and Jaap talk about the new pension system, which used to be one of the best in the world and which would not need any change if we were not dealing with an 'idiotic' market interest rate. Finally, Jaap gives his opinion on investing and also investing in gold, he concludes with his concerns and what he wants to pass on to everyone.