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Vandaag is het eerste nummer van de tiende jaargang van AElementair verschenen. Gelegenheid voor mij om een bijzonder voorwoord te schrijven.

Welcome to the 10th volume of AElementair magazine. In the summer of 2001, when I was making the very first edition, I never could have imagined that I would still be contributing to the magazine in 2011. Actually, I wasn't even sure AElementair would last beyond the first volume, since the balance between income and expenditure was, well, slightly off the first year. Fortunately I was proven wrong and the investment has paid off: in 2011 an 'AElementair' Google search yields 15,000 results, varying from articles and references to connected faculty associations across The Netherlands.

At the start of AElementair we were living in interesting times: the Dutch tax system had seen a massive overhaul, the Euro was about to make its way into the hands of European citizens and the CDA, the traditional centre of political power, was out of the government for the first time ever. Fascinating times for economists. In 2011 our outlook is as fascinating as ever: the financial sector has effectively been taken over by the government, Europe is increasingly integrating its financial monitoring and The Netherlands have a historic first: a minority government.

Discussions about economic policy are becoming increasingly international – and AElementair has adjusted its contents accordingly. In ten years, AElementair has managed to survive various crises: the fall of the second Paars administration (and of all following Balkenende administrations), the dotcom crisis, the credit crunch – and the bachelor-master system. Let’s wish for at least ten more volumes. I’ll gladly keep on contributing.