Maastricht Debates: Herman Mulder on the global financial system and development challenges

For the second time this year on September 22, Maastricht Debates used a new, interactive format to discuss issues around the global financial system and development challenges. Three short fragments from Erwin Wagenhofer’s documentary “Let’s make money” (2009) were used to trigger the debate between the audience and the evening’s keynote speaker Herman Mulder, former head of Group-Risk Management at ABN Amro and now independent advisor to the United Nations.

Herman Mulder

The event was held at the AINSI cultural centre, to the south of Maastricht, on the banks of the Meuse river, in a setting that effectively created an intimate, comfortable platform for discussion, much unlike a traditional lecture hall.

The documentary clips had been picked out by the organisers to illustrate various controversial aspects of the current global financial system. Moderator Inge Römgens initiated a lively debate by posing challenging questions to all attendants, speaker and audience members alike.
The debate quickly heated up when the role of financial crises was evoked as a possible self-correcting mechanism inherent to the economy itself. In the tradition of Keynesian vs Neo-Liberal debates, the role of the state was examined, the reasons for the crisis were discussed and proposals were put forward from all sides.

Gradually, the debate shifted to what lessons can be learned from the current crisis and to the rather speculative, but nonetheless relevant discussion about the future of our economic system. Among the issues that were raised was the future of “green” and “brown” banks, the role of the European Union in pushing for a more sustainable way of life, and what difference each and everyone of us can make on an individual basis.

“We are living in interesting times,” commented Herman Mulder. Throughout the evening, he repeatedly urged the audience to question conventional wisdom and to broaden our perspective on the pending challenges facing the world. The former risk manager at ABN-AMRO bank resorted to unconventional “mind broadening” techniques, told some powerful anecdotes and, throwing the ball at the audience, asked more open questions than he was willing to answer himself. The two-hour debate didn’t seem long enough to benefit fully from his wide expertise and knowledge.

Moderator Inge Römgens adequately preserved the structure of the debate. While Mulder and the audience often jumped from one theme to another, Inge not only kept the participants “on the right track”, but more importantly able to summarized the main points of discussion at the end of the debate, providing a clear satisfactory overview to all attendees.

No question, the audience played an essential part in the discussion. Although the number of participants could have been higher, their diversity on many levels helped the debate come out as a holistic representation of the current situation in the financial markets. From students to seniors, from Dutch locals to members of the international community, from adherents of liberal economy to those in favour of a more social economy, the main prerequisite for a fruitful discussion was present: a multitude of well-argued perspectives.

Simon Reetz

Simon Reets (20) is a second-year European Studies student from Germany at Maastricht University and represents the Corcondantia student association at the steering committee of Maastricht Debates.

Photos by Sonja Schiffers