Macroeconomics, good discussions and great parties

At the moment I am sitting in the library to finish my essay about the British society (or the Big Society, according to David Cameron). It is sad to know that there are only seven weeks left here in Hull, and I really want to enjoy as much as I can! This week my flatmate Anne celebrated her birthday, not only with a great german dinner but also with a awesome (pre-)party. Today I saw the pictures and I had to smile again, knowing that we all have a great time here at campus!

This week was also a week of some more serious business; in the beginning of this week my lecturer explained why some economies struggle and why for example the US, Europe and Australia have more stable economies than Mexico (the country he was born), Brazil and China. Mostly in the lectures he talks about theories and mathematic, so this story was very interesting.

In January I read an article about the relation between economic growth and happiness. I was surprised that this was a topic in the macroecnomic lecture. I do believe that we are all focusing too much on the economic situation instead of on happiness. Is the economic situation affecting our happiness? In some way yes, but I think we should look at happiness the other way around: makes this economy us happy, or do we just want to make money? Is money making us happy? For example the New Public Management focus of the government: in government everything needs to be the same as in the free market. This perspective will lead to a strong focus on results, on money and on numbers. It does not focus on the human being, the employee who need to do the tasks. During my internship I realized that it is beneficial for an organization to have a flexible pool of employees. But who is caring about the feelings of these employees? Who thinks they produce better when their income is not sure?

Apart from attending interesting lectures and think about economic issues, I had a great time in London last weekend. Together with two friends, Heleen and Miriam, I had lots of fun and I saw more things I expected. This was the fifth time I visited London, so I didn’t expected to see new things. But actually, I was very surprised that we managed to see so many new places! Not only the famous Big Ben and the Tower Bridge (which I have seen before) but we also explored London by bike. That was a real new experience, also for my friends who were not used to the left-driving traffic. We biked through Hyde Park, visiting Kensington Palace and the Royal Albert Hall, and parked our bikes in the beginning of Portobello Road. I really recommend this neighbourhood, a combination of beautiful houses and in the next street we saw colourful houses and a lively market on the streets. I do also recommend biking, but you need a credit card and a lot of patience. Before we could hire the bikes the first time, we had difficulties with getting the code to unlock the bikes. After unlocking the next surprise came: how to get the bike out of the parking? A friendly tourist helped us, and so we were finally able to bike!

I only took one bag with me to London, but I came back with two: not only because of the shopping at the markets, but also because of the presents my friends gave me. I am very happy with the Dutch black candy ‘drop’ and in the train I started to read the Dutch magazines! Thank you Miriam and Heleen for this great weekend!!