The Dutch Economy is NOT the Most Unequal

As a Dutch economist who works for a South African University, I was absolutely shocked when I saw this video from Economics Explained (EE) which states that the economy of the Netherlands is in fact the most unequal on earth!!

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SOURCES:
I've linked my sources in the blog that goes along with this video:

Timestamps:
0:00​ - introduction
1:43​ - bad numbers
10:22​ - taxes reduce inequality

Attribution:

Narrated and produced by Dr. Joeri Schasfoort (University of Cape Town & University of Groningen)

[euomu]

Explaining economics to "Economics Explained"

[NotJustBikes]

Thanks for this. I was literally yelling at the screen while watching the original Economics Explained video.

[jksinorbit]

As a South African living in the Netherlands i can assure you there is much less inequality in every single way in the Netherlands. Except when it comes to sunshine and gorgeous vistas then South Africa is tops !

[leonardonovais]

That is the problem with informing yourself through YT. If "serious" scientists tamper with data to prove a point or to validate their personal points of views somewhat frequently, imagine what a random youtuber won't do. At least in the research business, papers have to be peer-reviewed. So big props to you for "peer-reviewing" EE's video.

[aktraining]

EE is one of those content creators that sound very convicing on every topic you have low experience in.

And then he does a video on something you have a good idea about and you tear your hair out watching his smug ignorance.

[minseokshin]

I am a South Korean living in Britain, I laughed so hard with both videos about Korea and Britain. After this video I am getting increasingly aware that it wasn’t only the case of those two videos.

[Hyde_Hill]

As a dutchman and political scientist I got recommended the video. So many mistakes my head spinned and was out of there. Thanks for pointing them all out.

[KapiteinKrentebol]

Stopped watching EE's videos after having seen a few like these.
I'm not economicly gifted enough to debunk his videos but as a well of poor Dutch citizen I smelled something was wrong with that video.

[izixrud]

I’m really loving these kinds of videos where creators like you are calling out other bigger creators in a peer-review esque way. It’s very much needed and appreciated 👍🏼

[MrProfizmus]

Very interesting how I remember EE responding to this about how he's taking it all in good faith and would love to talk about it, but no matter where I check, his responses are gone. I think he posted about it on his channel's Community page, but there's nothing about this there either. I then checked his original video, and he did adjust the title - to the exact opposite of what you recommended. This kind of attitude really shines light on who to believe more.

[mellowmike]

I'm an expat living in the Netherlands and I was very surprised to hear that the Netherlands was even close to the top for inequality. That being said I was/am a big economics explained fan so I didn't really question it too much, I'm glad this video exists to set the record straight.

[MisterDutch]

As a Dutch historian, I couldn't get through the part where EE claimed we have lots of old money dating back to the 1600s. The 19th century in particular shook up so many noble families in the Netherlands (and we didn't have much royalty in the Dutch Republic anyway), that most of the richest families aren't even older than 150 years. To my knowledge there aren't many 'regentenfamilies' left, as most patrician families today trace back their heritage after the Napoleonic period or well after. These people are moderately wealthy, and are just a small part of the Dutch population.

[funkygawy]

If you look at the 2018 version of the CS report ... Netherlands comes out roughly in the middle, so somehow in one year inequality jumped so many places? Bad data, bad interpretation. The real sin of the EE video is the evidenceless storytelling, though - may as well conclude "Well, Dutch people are tall, so their wealth tends to stay higher." Thanks for this!

[dominik]

As an aspiring economics student currently living in NL I loved this video. I love how you analysed his sources and showed that he had flaws in his metrics, comparison period and economic reasoning (all things that are highly focused on in research courses in the first few years) and so easy and well explained! From living here for quite a while now I can say that anyone who hasn’t properly lived here cannot judge from the outside. Yes there is room for improvement in any country I this world! But NL truly is one of the most well organised countries out there. Moving away from here now shows me how spoiled I’ve been the past few years, it’s jus tall so we’ll organises, controlled and communicated.

[mics]

As a Filipino and economics graduate, I knew something was immediately up with EE’s videos when he released his video on the Philippines. I always thought his videos were ok for surface-level understanding, but that’s it. His Philippine video made it seem like he didn’t even read anything about the Philippines. There was no research done, it was all from an outsider’s perspective, and just generic.

Happy to see that it wasn’t just me that found something wrong with his work.

[theclumsymaker]

I had so much doubt about EE's video I kept thinking it was clickbait. Even as I watched it I was convinced that it had derived the assumption from a very distorted perspective. I just didn't know enough facts to dispute his claim until watching your video. But even then, you either have to really believe that taxes are evil, or totally oblivious to the state of the world to really think that the Dutch economy is the most unequal in the world.
Thanks.

[fernandoespinosa]

Excellent video. We need more like this where You Tubers are subject to peer review for the evidence or lack of it in their opinions.
Thanks for your contribution to a better educated society.

[MegaSnow]

EE sounds angry about how “unequal” the Netherlands is - just watched that video before watching yours. Thank you for pointing out the lack of good research on the part of EE, which makes me wonder how well researched his other videos are. I am in the middle of writing a book, and struggled with one short, simple paragraph. Turned out I did not have the correct information; after I found it, writing the few sentences I needed was easy. I assume the same applies when putting together a YouTube video. Taking time for thorough research is important if you want to be believed.

[KrishnaDasLessons]

I knew EconomicsExplained's video was deeply flawed already, however I had a lot of preconceived misunderstandings on how wealth inequality calculations work. Thanks for the high quality video fellow Dutchman.

[jorenbosmans]

I kind of love how focussing on you assuming that the EE video was made in good Faith kind of creates doubt that it was. Was really puzzled by his video but wasn't sure as I have no background in economics and know suprising little of my northern neighbours. Thanks for this video. Loved it.