NY400: Foundations for a stronger society

Toespraak | 30-03-2009

Gelegenheid: Businessclub WTC, Amsterdam

It is also tempting to just follow up upon what Russell Shorto just told us about the history of New Amsterdam/New York, because I’d love to continue on that debate. There are so many things to be said. Because of this celebration I’ve started to read everything on the history of the United States of New York I could get my hands on. I just finished a wonderful new book by the British historian David Reynolds. It is a great read and it tells you so much about American history and also how it came to be what it is today. He also writes about the contribution of the Dutch. Slightly less clear than Russell Shorto does, but still with enough passion to understand that the Dutch have had influence on the coming to be of what is now the United States.

I was asked to talk about today. Not about history, not about the future, but today. And I was explicitly asked not to talk about the crisis. I was told: ‘for heaven’s sake, don’t talk about the crisis, the people in the room are fed up with talking about the crisis. They don’t do anything else, so they want to hear something else.’ So I’ll try.

The first thing that I want to tell you is that just two days ago in a conference, Joe Biden, vice president, said especially to the Europeans in the audience, “I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news”. And he said “the good news is, there’s going to be change.” And he said “the bad news is, there is going to be change”. What he meant to say is that we are going to have to build international relations anew. We are going to have to look at our economy anew. We’re going to have to look at our financial system in a new way. And at the same time Europe and the rest of the world no longer have the excuse of George Bush in saying: ‘this is an American problem’. No longer Europeans can say: ‘Okay, we can stay in our own places. Never mind what the Americans are doing’. Joe Biden says, “When we say we are going to make a change”, says Joe Biden, “it means that you need to be part of that change for it to succeed.”

And the pivotal argument I would like to advance today is that if we want to do something about climate change, if we want to do something about energy, if we want to do something to restructure our economy, the financial sector, etcetera, we can only succeed as a Western world if we stick together. If we have a plan that is supported by both sides of the Atlantic. If we can do that, I think we can get the new emerging economies on our side. We can make the needed fundamental changes in the near future. So that we can make a new beginning of what I think is going to be a new constructivist period in the world’s history.

One of the most interesting aspects of the new American administration is their attention for international affairs. Look what they’ve done I a very short period of time in terms of preparing the G20, in terms of taking a new good look at Afghanistan. But also in terms of attention for Latin America, for instance. It is surprising to see that only last week, Secretary Clinton was in Mexico, Vice-President Joe Biden was in Chile, also talking also to President Lula of Brazil.

I observe a strong willingness to forge new alliances. And the willingness to look at their own neighbourhood. One of the most interesting developments of the coming years - or of the coming generation of the US - is going to be the new socio-ethnic composition of the United States. The influence of the Hispanic population, of people coming from Latin America is going to increase. And this will also effect on how society in the US is structured.

What does that mean for our side of the Atlantic? I shall not elaborate too much on this. Those of you who want to read about my thoughts on this, just buy this weeks copy of the Groene Amsterdammer. I’ve tried to elaborate there what I think of fundamentals. But, what we’ve forgotten in the last decade and I’m not talking about professionals, politicians or businesspeople, but as societies. What we have forgotten as societies is that we share so many fundamental values. That these fundamental values should be the bridge upon which we build our consensus and how we want to restructure the world. What does that mean for the business community?

Well, I believe that whatever happens, we will see a restructuring of the world’s economic model. The Asian model will lose some of its importance. We will see a re-regionalisation of economies. Financial markets will become more regional. But also production facilities will want to be positioned closer to the markets they produce for. For environmental reasons, for political reasons, for financial reasons, we will not want to send products all over the world.

And one crucial point that Bob Reich made at last week’s conference is that we can no longer expect the American consumer to fuel the world’s economy. Because if President Obama does what he promises to do: to restructure the society in a sense that it is not overspent en over borrowed and goes back to saving first. Taking care of your debt and then looking for a new investment, if he does all that, American demand will go down, at least temporarily. And I think the rest of the world economy needs to adapt to that.

This will have huge consequences, especially for the Asian economic model. It is undeniably so that in Asia will have to people stimulate and increase internal demand. And also in Europe, we’ll have to look more at the markets in our proximity. And I say this, because I believe this is a huge opportunity for the world economy. The imbalance between one side of the world saving too much and the other side of the world spending too much, is at the core of today’s crisis - here again talking about the crisis, sorry!

But I need to mention this because taking away some of that imbalance is in the interest of long-term economic stability. Therefore I believe the functioning of our economy, not just the financial sector, but our broader economy should be analysed from the starting point that we need to create more balance, which means more stable markets in our own region. A more stable relationship with other markets in the world. The G20 summit, I believe, will be the first step to create some clarity on this scope.

Back to Amsterdam-New York and Netherlands-United States. Seldom I have seen a period in the last ten or fifteen years when New Yorkers – and Americans in general - are so interested in what happens elsewhere. Interest in the possibilities of cooperation with the outside world. The paradigm ‘if you’re not with us, you’re against us’, has already gone. People are far more interested in what can we do together. Okay, if you don’t want my hand, fine. But I’ll extend my hand anyway. Take it, please. I mean, this attitude completely changes the nature of international relations and we have President Obama to thank for this.

The New York 400 celebration could have a very positive influence on our self-confidence and our self-image in the Netherlands. I believe that when building upon these 400 years, we can in the Netherlands rediscover this self-confidence that built the country to what it is today. And self-confidence we sometimes lack if you look at the political debate. And to build this self-confidence we will need our friends across the Atlantic. We need the heritage we’ve built in the last 400 years.

Our embassy in Washington made a wonderful analysis in the American public to see what the image of The Netherlands in the United States is. And off course, the first thing that doesn’t have to surprise us is that when ‘The Netherlands’ is said: ‘What?’. Holland. ‘Holland, oh yeah, we know that.’ Amsterdam, they know that even better. But once you get into a conversation with people and you can explain to them that we share these values, that this is a highly modern country where people love freedom just as much as Americans love freedom. Where people love to see that somebody can actually build up its own life, regardless of his background. If this is something that is seen as a value in Dutch society, this is also seen as a value in American society. And it creates a bond which is stronger than perhaps between other countries in other circumstances. And if we can get this understanding more broadly felt in Dutch society I think we’ll all be better off. That’s why I believe we should continue with this effort, that’s why I believe we’re going to have some wonderful celebrations, starting this week in Amsterdam, next week also in New York. In September, it’s going to be a spectacular week in New York State and New York City.

And it is great to notice how much New York State and New York City are willing to celebrate this with us. The interest on their side is as strong as on this side of the Atlantic. We were also afraid that they say ‘okay, if you want your party, fine, but don’t bother us with it’. Governor Paterson, Mayor Bloomberg and others have been very supportive of it and I thank them for that.

So ladies and gentlemen, I just want to conclude in saying that if you join us in this celebration you will not only have a great party, you will all lay the foundations of a stronger society. Not based on the fear of the other, but based on the willingness to cooperate with our friends across the world. Starting in New York, starting in the United States.

Thank you.