A neat PDF version of this article, complete with literature list and useful references and links, can be downloaded HERE.
The deplorable story of the Lisbon
Strategy
or
How the European Union squandered the
one chance it had to come to par with the USA, China and Japan in technology
In casual conversation in Europe today, it is popular to talk
about the unicorns and the incredible capital gains of early investors in Apple
and Alibaba.
However, these are stories of other cultures, other continents, made possible
by different attitudes to risk than are found in Europe. In The Netherlands,
even in Europe, such stories do not exist.
The Dutch golden age (1575 – 1672)
owed its success to entrepreneurs and financiers who were not afraid to take
risks and explore the new. I refer to the brilliant book of the historian Simon Schama called
The
Embarrassment of Riches
and
an
article about the wealth of the Dutch nation, although there are also
references to it in Samuel Pepys diary. From the 18
th century
onwards, the Dutch culture edged inexorably toward risk avoidance. Even in
modern times where technology develops at supersonic speeds, cherry picking in venture capital firms is
done much on the basis of 'proven business' and 'minimizing risk', and this is
seen as 'sound investment strategy'. But this 'sound' investment strategy is as
perilous as it gets, for the end result of the self-indulgent way of investment
policies is that Europe is lagging hopelessly behind in bringing its
technological and scientific prowess to market, or, in the vernacular of European
politics, Europe is missing out on 'valorisation'.
The creation of technologically advanced behemoths is
(This is the second publication on the science of mass manipultion. The first contained the sources and history and can be found HERE (click).)
