Ernest Lamers, a Dutch national, read international economics and finance at the University of Tilburg (The Netherlands) and has a PhD in Economics. He left Holland in 1963 for an international career that took him successively to Ankara and Paris (O.E.C.D.), Washington (World Bank), London (City) and Luxemburg-Rome-Luxemburg (European Investment Bank) for some 25 years. He is now retired and has used his otium - cum dignitate, he hopes - to put his thoughts about a few political matters on paper.