Every year on Prinsjesdag, the national budget sets out how Dutch taxpayers' money is being spent. Yet it is never just about the figures. Emotions and expectations also play an important role. In what is now the 11th episode of our science podcast "Oh Ja Joh?!", we speak to Professor of Economics Robert Dur. How does he look at the budget plans? And are we heading in the right direction?
'The coalition parties have not reached an agreement. What we are now seeing in the national budget cannot even be called an opening bid, but is more like an interim update on the internal negotiations', Dur says in the podcast. According to him, the government is putting off major decisions and is doing too little to address the major challenges currently facing the Netherlands.
The professor finds it striking that the national budget places the burden primarily on working people, rather than on those with wealth. And this at a time when we actually need more people to work in our country. Taxes are rising most sharply for high-income earners. 'Not exactly what you would expect given the composition of this government, but it is what the figures show', says Dur.
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