Amsterdam

The Dutch United Provinces declared their independence from Spain in 1579. During the 17th century, we became a leading seafaring and commercial power, with settlements and colonies around the world. After a 20-year French occupation, a Kingdom of the Netherlands was formed in 1815. Last week UCLA Professor Rakesh Sarin published a study and concluded that The Netherlands is the 4th happiest country in the World. This after 10 years of researching economic, behavioral and other data, Rakesh developed a way to mathematically calculate happiness. But our freedom and liberties in Amsterdam and The Netherlands didn’t come overnight. We embrace these virtues day in day out. And at the end we are all looking for that symbolic Pot of Gold. Dutch entrepreneur and philanthropist Jacob Gelt Dekker might have the answers. ‘Carpe Diem’.