Post by Caecilia Johanna van Peski 🌐

"The true strength of a financial system is not revealed in times of stability, but in its ability to absorb shocks without losing trust." On 23 June 2026, that powerful message was at the heart of an inspiring excursion to De Nederlandsche Bank (Dutch Central Bank, DNB) with "Vrienden van Cobbenhagen" ("Friends of Cobbenhagen", Tilburg University Alumni Association). During his keynote, Olaf Sleijpen, President of DNB, shared his perspective on how today's world is increasingly shaped by geopolitical tensions, geo-economic fragmentation and declining trust. The challenge is therefore not to eliminate uncertainty, but to build an economy that can withstand it. Buffers - financial, institutional and societal - are essential to ensure that shocks do not become permanent scars, allowing households, businesses and governments to continue investing with confidence. The presentations by Marike Knoef and Maarten van Rooij demonstrated how data-driven research is shaping smarter pension policy, financial supervision and evidence-based decision-making. Their insights highlighted the importance of combining academic excellence with practical policymaking to strengthen the resilience of both the financial sector and society as a whole. One takeaway continues to resonate: the robustness of an economy is not measured by how well it performs in stable times, but by how effectively it adapts and recovers when faced with disruption. Olaf Sleijpen Marike Knoef Maarten van Rooij, Vrienden van Cobbenhagen Tilburg University Fund Mariëtte Turkenburg Cindy van Oorschot Huub de Jong Marc Cootjans Pieter Van Beurden Esther de Schrijver Wim van de Donk Piet van Ierland #EconomicResilience #FinancialStability #DNB #Economics #PublicPolicy #RiskManagement #Leadership #FutureReady #Pensions #TilburgUniversity #VriendenVanCobbenhagen