Economy

If companies would pay proper taxes, there would be no need bo cut health care, education and other public services, the International Socialists argue. On Friday 5 October, they organise a protest at the Amstelgebouw.

Highly-skilled immigrants from Brazil, Russia, India and China value living in Amsterdam, according to a thesis by a student who has done a work placement with the town planning department. Respondents are often from large, polluted and congested cities and consider it a ‘unique selling point’ that all destinations in Amsterdam can be reached on foot or bicycle. A woman from India:

Recently, it has been decided to put one kilometre of Ring Road at the Zuidas business district underground, a job that will cost 1.4 billion euros. Economics editor Menno Tamminga of NRC Handelsblad thinks the project should not be funded entirely with taxpayers’ money. The offices at the Zuidas, the RAI, Schiphol Airport and the KLM will benefit from improved connections. “The private companies that benefit so clearly from public investments should cough up”, Tamminga argues.

D66 wants the city to make a greater effort to attract Russian companies to Amsterdam. However, the municipality is more interested in other emerging economies, such as Brazil, India and China.