Bill McLaughlin, Egide Nimubona, Jason Schulist, and I spent a week in the Netherlands in October 2025 to see how the Dutch handle various contemporary global challenges. We met with numerous people and discussed a variety of topics to gain a sense of how potential change is addressed and implemented. This brief posting will not go into any detail but just hit a few highlights and impressions. A small photo album with captions provides a glimpse of what we saw. (Captions for the photos can be found by clicking the i button.) I may add to this posting as I learn more from my colleagues on the trip.
My initial thoughts are as follows:
- The Dutch have a long history of tolerance for a variety of views, religions, and preferences. This tolerance is limited and stressed on many occasions including the present with strong anti-immigrant political forces.
- Amsterdam is crowded and expensive. Famous for the presence of cyclists, residents cycle everywhere and don’t appreciate when anyone interrupts their journey. In short, walking can be a dangerous activity. Biking garages can accommodate over 20,000 bikes near Central Station (see photo in linked album.)
- On our first full day, we met with Ted Howard and a colleague to discuss community wealth building in a poor section of Amsterdam. This meeting took place in a lovely restaurant attached to the Amsterdam zoo which we perused before going across the street to the Dutch Resistance Museum. The museum was recently redone; it provided lots of examples of how Dutch residents responded to the Nazi invasion. Dutch collaboration with the Nazis was substantial as was a broad based resistance movement.
- Three of us took the Sandeman’s walking tour of central Amsterdam and learned a great deal about how the city attempts to keep itself from sinking as well as legalities related to “soft drugs” and prostitution. Our guide Carolien used our two hour walk to share both historical and contemporary insights into how the city functions.
- Central Amsterdam is doing what it can, given building and historical constraints, to retain its architectural character. The public transit system, especially the trams, are terrific and easy to use. An iAmsterdam card makes them free for holders of that card, which provides free entry into many museums and a canal ride.
- Political campaigns are constrained by specific public electronic billboards and poster sizes. The linked photo album contains a photo of the billboard in museum square. It features 24 parties that are contesting the upcoming October 29th parliamentary elections. We were informed that citizens can complete a (neutral?) questionnaire that helps illuminate the distinctions among the parties.
- Cornelia Dinca, co-founder of Sustainable Amsterdam, took us on a tour of North Amsterdam and pointed out a variety of sustainable activities that are replacing old industrial facilities. These include a large warehouse-like building featuring a variety of artists, a floating foundation housing complex, some modern apartments, and a delightful pub, where we enjoyed both the atmosphere and a drink.
- Amsterdam is a city of fabulous museums. Each of us visited some of the following museums: the Dutch Resistance Museum, the Van Gogh Museum, the Rijks Museum, and the Jewish Museum. Each provides great insights into the past history of the city and its surroundings.
- Three of us took a day trip to Utrecht, a 900+ year old city of 350,000 residents. We enjoyed a story-telling walk around Utrecht’s center, a wonderful pub (that used to be a church – see photo), and an expensive and elegant dinner at the top of Utrecht’s 10 story water tower (see photo). Despite its population and bike culture (the biking garage near the central station houses more than 10,000 bikes), the pace seems much less hectic than what we experienced in Amsterdam. Jason made connections with two interesting people, who one might characterize as counter culture. We shared insights over a beer and the aforementioned dinner.
No Con Economics 