Rick van der Ploeg

Prof. Dr Rick van der Ploeg is a former Dutch politician and economist who is currently a professor at the University of Amsterdam and the University of Oxford. He has had an impressive political career as a member of the House of Representatives, financial spokesperson and State Secretary for Culture and Media in the Kok II cabinet from 1998 to 2002.

PhD in Engineering

Van der Ploeg studied in England. He obtained his PhD in Engineering from the University of Cambridge after studying at the University of Sussex. After completing his doctorate, he held various academic positions, including Professor of International Economic Policy at the Robert Schuman Centre of the European University Institute in Florence and Professor of Political Economy at the University of Amsterdam, and later at the Amsterdam School of Economics.

University of Oxford

In 2007, Van der Ploeg became Professor of Economics at the University of Oxford. He also contributed to the popularisation of science when he presented the National Science Quiz on VPRO in 2005. In addition, he co authored the book Taxes and the Economy with Willem Vermeend.

Expertise

His research has focused on the economics of climate change and the economics of resource rich countries, with a focus on macroeconomic growth and open economy issues, financial matters and problems in public economics and political economy. He previously worked at the University of Cambridge, LSE, Tilburg University, VU Amsterdam and the European University in Florence. He is also a former Chief Financial Spokesperson in the Dutch Parliament, former State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science in the Netherlands and former Vice Chair of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. Prof. Dr Rick van der Ploeg has extensive advisory experience with supranational organisations, governments and private companies.