What remains to discuss is how we move from a wish for a parliamentary enquiry to an advice to boycott Holland. The point is that the 1990 paper contains the solution for unemployment but met with censorship by the CPB directorate, and Dutch society has not been able to resolve that censorship yet. I have grown convinced that an outside influence will be of use and that in fact only a boycott of Holland can help out. Hence, my advice to the rest of the world is to boycott Holland till the Dutch resolve the censorship of science by the directorate of the Dutch Central Planning Bureau. The remainder of this paper is devoted to development of that argument.
First considerations
It is useful to explain the following about the Dutch Central Planning Bureau. The CPB has a similar role in Holland as the Council of Economic Advisers to the President in the USA in the co-ordination of economic policy making. The CPB is a world renowned institute. When it was founded shortly after World War II, the first director was Jan Tinbergen who later received the Nobel Prize for his pioneering work in econometrics. Other economists at CPB of historical fame are for example Theil, Koyck, Verdoorn, De Wolff (who is less known but for example coined the terms “macro-economics” and “micro-economics”). The CPB director who originally censored my analysis and who fired me with an abuse of science is Gerrit Zalm, now better known in European politics as the Dutch Minister of Finance. The current CPB director is Henk Don, who has a high personal and professional respect nationally and internationally, which I agree with except for the censorship. It must be noted that Henk was vice-director at the time when the original censorship took place, was not directly involved and does not know some details, but nevertheless firmly supports the censorship and abuse of science.
The key points of the censorship are as follows. The paper was blocked from internal discussion by the CPB directorate and eventually I was fired in 1991. The court observed an abuse of power but nevertheless allowed the dismissal. There is weak legal protection for Dutch public employees, while the court also did not properly distinguish between my position as an economic scientist and the other position of non-scientific public employees. Apart from the treatment of my person, the publication process itself was this: I intended the paper for publication as a CPB Research Memorandum, the series ‘under the responsibility of the author’. The possibility of an internal discussion with interested colleagues seemed to me a necessary step before I could finalise the paper. The analysis is sound, but the colleagues can have questions and comments that contibute to enhanced clarity. This possibility however was blocked by the directorate. A committee on good scientific conduct, consisting of professor Köbben (Leiden) and professor Segers (Tilburg), observed that the directorate would have done better in permitting that internal discussion. My position is that I wait till that discussion is permitted indeed, so that I can finalise the analysis and let it be published as intended.
Some more details are in the appendices to this whole book: the autobiographical note and my presentation for the National Press in Washington 1993 with attached job resume of that time. Updates can be found on the web.
Many economists react that I could also publish the (1990a) paper (or a revision) in an international journal. This however is both beside the point, while it also meets with practical problems.
· First, the point is that the CPB directorate censors science. When the problem is at CPB then it must be solved at CPB. Let me note that when I discussed the censorship with Jan Tinbergen, he said that the issue needed resolution “but by a younger generation than me”. It actually is rather curious that one would want the journals to solve the issue while maintaining the censorship at CPB, and then, when the issue is resolved, ask CPB to apply it for the Central Economic Plan.
· Secondly, there are various practical problems. The (1990a) paper is already on the web since 1995, and I do not see it used to solve unemployment. So availability is not sufficient, there must also be proper context and channelling. The paper has been written for a CPB Research Memorandum, it assumes a CPB context and it targets an enquiry by Dutch parliament. Before the web existed, I submitted the paper to two journals, one Dutch, one international, but it came back with useless comments. This is only a small sample, and the paper might be redrafted, yet it confirmed my idea that journals are not the way to go. One should also understand that I have little time to write. My job situation is difficult: short term jobs, always a new subject and not at the easiest level. [ [130] Of course, much of my time is spent on protesting against the censorship.
I have tried various other ways to resolve the issue of censorship of science by the CPB directorate. For example, I published reviews and collections Colignatus (1992b), (1994b) and finally (2000), “Definition & Reality in the General Theory of Political Economy” (DRGTPE), the first edition of this book. The latter is listed in the Journal of Economic Literature JEL 2000-1325, vol. 38, no. 4, December 2000. Also, Hulst et al. (1998) and Colignatus & Hulst (2003) are Dutch books that explain the issues in lay terms for a general public. But I see no effect. [ [131]
I have also hoped that other economists would find the same results that I have, so that the issues could be resolved in that manner. But no.