Tinbergen
Tinbergen in 1986 (foto R.C. Croes, ANEFO)
We will be celebrating the fact that fifty years ago Jan Tinbergen received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (commonly referred to as the Nobel Prize). With his knowledge and motivation he meant a lot to society in his days. But what about now? It is time for reflection and for scrutinizing the Netherlands of today and of the future. With this project, we underline the importance of economic thought based on Jan Tinbergen’s life. Why is the Netherlands governed as it is? We aim to hold both a social and a policy debate as to how the Netherlands’ socio-economic management is organized. This way, we aim to generate knowledge and arguments as a starting point for debating this matter in the Netherlands.
You will find everything about the Tinbergen Year 2019 on this website. Here you will find a summary of all the activities, in addition to a brief biography of Jan Tinbergen and exclusive visual material. We will also make reports on all the activities afterwards. In order to remain informed, please subscribe to the newsletter at the bottom of this page.
https://tinbergentoday.nl
In 1986 overhandigde Joop den Uyl zijn boek De toekomst onder ogen aan Jan Tinbergen
De beroemdste econoom van het land, Jan Tinbergen, heeft nu pas een biografie gekregen. Historicus Erwin Dekker schreef een genuanceerd portret van een praktisch wetenschapper die zijn kennis en kunde altijd in wilde zetten voor het algemeen nut. Anderzijds verbaast het niet dat er niet eerder een biografie over Tinbergen verscheen. Want persoonlijke anekdotes of kleurrijke verhalen over deze Nederlandse Nobelprijswinnaar zijn schaars.
https://www.nieuwwij.nl/opinie/tinbergen-een-econoom-die-vrede-zocht-in-zijn-modellen/
Jan Pronk en Jan Tinbergen
Achttien lessen van Tinbergen
Jan Pronk
Ik had mij als student economie na mijn kandidaatsexamen (bachelor) voor mijn doctoraal/masters studie gespecialiseerd in de economie van ontwikkelingslanden en schreef mijn scriptie voor het vak ontwikkelingsprogrammering. Ik maakte die keuze niet omdat ik toen al bijzonder in ontwikkelingslanden was geïnteresseerd, maar omdat ik colleges wilde volgen van de meest vooraanstaande econoom van Nederland. Tinbergen genoot een wereldfaam. Na mijn afstuderen werd ik wetenschappelijk medewerker in zijn team van onderzoekers aan de Universiteit in Rotterdam. Dat bleef ik zeven jaar. Het was in die tijd dat Tinbergen de prijs ontving. Een paar jaar later ging ik de politiek in.
https://www.janpronk.nl/essays/dutch/achttien-lessen-van-tinbergen.html
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TINBERGEN, IDEALIST AND INSPIRER BY JAN PRONK (ARTICLE)
Tinbergen as an idealist and inspirer. That he was, in addition to being a scientist of world stature. It is generally acknowledged that his work from the 30s to the 80s of the previous century was of inestimable value. Is it still significant, now that the outlines of entirely new relationships are emerging at the beginning of a new millennium? Can his ideals also be a source of inspiration today? To what extent is his approach to problems still relevant now? Are the solutions that he proffered, which date from the years of the depression, post-war reconstruction, North-South and East-West oppositions in the world, also applicable under conditions of globalisation and contradictions determined not only by economic factors?
This article was written by Jan Pronk in 2003, commemorating the one hundredth anniversary of Tinbergen’s birth.
https://tinbergentoday.nl/tinbergen-idealist-and-inspirer-by-jan-pronk-article/
The Tinbergen Letters
The archive of Jan Tinbergen came to the University Library Rotterdam shortly after his decease in June 1994 thanks to the efforts of Albert Jolink, Tinbergen Institute graduate and Board Member of the Stichting Wetenschappelijke Nalatenschap Jan Tinbergen, with additional files donated in the years 1995-2006.
During his active lifetime, which started in the mid 1920’s and lasted right up to his decease in 1994, Jan Tinbergen corresponded with hundreds of people about a myriad of topics related to his work as lecturer and researcher (from 1933 at the Nederlandsche Handels-Hoogeschool/ Nederlandsche Economische Hoogeschool), as economic advisor of the League of Nations in Geneva (1936-38) and later the United Nations, as first director of the Central Planning Bureau of the Netherlands (1945-1955), as active member of the Dutch Labour Party (SDAP/PvdA), and after his final retirement from academia in 1975, as engaged citizen in matters such as world peace, environmental pollution and North-South inequality.
Within the archive the correspondence was divided into two parts: the letters from roughly up to 1956 were kept together and organized alphabetically (correspondent name). These letters – almost 10,000 in total – were digitized in a project that ran from 2012-2016. The letters from 1956-1994 were not stored together but kept within topical files and therefore had to be hand-selected in a second digitization project that ran 2017-2021 (almost 1,300 letters). The corresponding topical files have not been digitized and are held, like the original letters, in the climatized closed stacks of the University Library.
The letters sent by Jan Tinbergen can be viewed and downloaded without restrictions. The letters he received are not available online due to copyright restrictions. The metadata of the letters is available though, including an indication if there are mathematical calculations and/or formulas written on the letter or its annexes.
The University Library has also digitized all Tinbergen’s manuscripts found in the archive, both the clustered manuscripts as well as those which are annexes to letters. The manuscripts consist of a wide array of writings: notes, texts of lectures and speeches, manuscript versions of scholarly and popular publications, interviews, et cetera. All manuscripts are accessible for online viewing and can be downloaded for offline consultation.