Most recent columns

Harry Geels: Put an end to the left-right framework (part 1)

Tue, 15 Sep 2026 15:18:47 +0200

_{This column was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation.}

By Harry Geels

I have repeatedly argued that the current left-right framework is intellectually shallow and unnecessarily polarising. This time, I shall support this argument by describing the diversity on the ‘right’.

Harry Geels: What the rise of big business means for prosperity

Wed, 09 Sep 2026 08:54:09 +0200

_{This column was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation.}

By Harry Geels

The rise of ever-larger companies is neither a coincidence nor a conspiracy, but the result of five forces that are making scale increasingly important. What does that mean for society?

Harry Geels: Higher interest rates are the new normal

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 08:11:08 +0200

_{This column was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation.}

By Harry Geels

After years of living in a world of free money, historically low interest rates appear to be a thing of the past. Many analysts see this as a threat to the financial markets. But higher interest rates can also be seen as a return to normality.

Harry Geels: Many conventional wisdoms about housing do not always hold true

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 08:32:26 +0200

_{This column was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation.}

By Harry Geels

‘Renting is unwise.’ ‘Owning your own home is the best investment.’ ‘House prices always rise.’ ‘As you get older, you downsize.’ Very little of the familiar clichés about housing is actually true. But why, then, do they persist so stubbornly?

Harry Geels: Views of financial economists are missing from the inequality debate

Tue, 11 Aug 2026 09:57:07 +0200

_{This column was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation.}

By Harry Geels

The public debate on inequality and taxation is heavily dominated by a macroeconomic way of thinking, whilst insights from financial economics are conspicuously absent. Among other things, the ‘risk premium’ is conspicuously absent from the debate.