Does the omnipresent and mysterious “market economy” really exist? This question is explored by Koen Haegens, journalist-in-residence 2014/15 and economics editor at weekly magazine De Groene Amsterdammer, in his new book The Biggest Show on Earth. The Myth of the Market Economy (Dutch).
About the Book
Few abstractions dominate our everyday lives as much as ‘the market’. We get our daily necessities through it, we search for work on the ‘labour market’ and even hope to find love through the ‘dating market’. According to many politicians and commentators, ‘the markets’ even dictate the policies of democratically elected governments. So what is ‘the market’? How do modern markets function? And are we really living in a ‘market economy’? What if ‘the market’ is a myth?
About Koen Haegens
Koen Haegens has been editor at weekly newspaper De Groene Amsterdammer since 2006. He studied political science and journalism. In 2012, he published Neem de tijd. Overleven in de to go-maatschappij (Ambo) on the political and social roots of the modern rat race. He spent the autumn of 2014 at NIAS as journalist-in-residence, writing on the myth of the market economy.
Koen Haegens reports on his NIAS stay, and working in an environment away from the everyday hectic of a journalist’s life (in Dutch)
Book Presentation
The book presentation will take place on 17 September 2015 in the Singelkerk, Amsterdam (17.00), accompanied by a debate by Koen Haegens, Jesse Frederik ( Journalist at De Correspondent) en Kees Vendrik (Member of the Court of Audit). Admission is free.
More
The Biggest Show on Earth. The Myth of the Market Economy (Dutch)
Website De Groene Amsterdammer
Journalist-in-Residence programme