Jona van Loenen

Jona van Loenen is an entrepreneur, columnist, writer, and economist. Thanks to Jona and his ideas, you will look at and think about the economy in a different way. The economy is far too important to be left to economists.

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Dagvoorzitter,Keynote spreker,Moderator,Workshops

About Jona van Loenen

Jona van Loenen is an entrepreneur, columnist, writer, and economist. Jona van Loenen is not an economist who has spent his entire life in lecture halls and research reports. He was one of the founders of Gain.pro – one of the most successful tech start-ups in Europe – and therefore knows what it means to make significant choices in a world full of uncertainty. This combination of in-depth economic knowledge and real entrepreneurial experience in building companies makes him rare and unique, and is something you won’t find in anyone else in the Netherlands. Do you want someone who informs the audience? Then there is more than enough choice. But do you want someone who touches the audience, challenges them, and sends them out with a different perspective? Then Jona is the speaker you choose!

Jona is a highly sought-after speaker and moderator on all topics related to the economy. This includes the housing market, public finances, entrepreneurship, financial markets, labor market, and business climate. Additionally, Jona also speaks about (geo)political and international developments, and what that means for businesses and the Netherlands. Jona has given lectures at, among others, VNO-NCW, ACM, CPB, CBS, VDNA, banks and pension funds, AON, Copaco, the Association of Registered Controllers (VRC), the Ministry of Finance, and the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences.

As an economist, Jona van Loenen is regularly invited on television and radio to explain the economy. He does this on a regular basis for, among others, Vandaag Inside, WNL op Zondag, Goedemorgen Nederland, and Pauw & De Wit. Jona is known for making complex economic and political subjects understandable. Jona’s first book ‘Why the Lowest Price Guarantee Causes You to Pay Too Much’, which was released in May 2025, immediately became a bestseller. Additionally, he has a Substack ‘The Undercover Economist’ with over 10,000 subscribers, one of the most read Substacks in the Netherlands.

Specialist Subjects

The Netherlands is losing ground. The tax burden is rising, regulations are increasing, and more and more companies are looking abroad. But what does this concretely mean for the economy and your organisation? Jona van Loenen combines his deep-rooted economic knowledge with his experience in the business sector — he was at the foundation of Gain.pro, one of Europe’s most successful tech start-ups. He speaks not from an ivory tower, but from practical experience. In this lecture, Jona takes you through the state of the European and Dutch business climate, what opportunities still exist, and what companies and policymakers can do to keep the Netherlands attractive. Confrontational, clear, and always with a practical perspective.

The world is changing at a rapid pace. The tensions between the US and China, the reorientation of Europe, the rise of protectionism — these are not distant abstractions, but developments that directly affect your supply chain, your markets, and your growth strategy. Jona van Loenen is one of the few economists in the Netherlands who translates these major geopolitical shifts into concrete significance for the business sector. In this lecture, you will not receive a dry academic story, but a sharp, captivating analysis of the world as it truly is — and what you should do with it.

House prices, interest rates, and assets: they affect everyone, but are rarely truly understood. Interest rates that fluctuate, volatile stock markets, a housing market creaking under pressure — for many people, the financial world feels like a black box. Jona van Loenen opens that box. With a background in the financial sector and sharp economic analytical skills, he explains what is really happening in the financial markets. Jona van Loenen knows better than anyone how financial markets and the housing market influence each other, and what that means for citizens and businesses. From his years of experience in the financial world, he outlines the dynamics behind the headlines: how money flows through the economy, why bubbles form, and what investors and policymakers can learn from it. No complicated jargon or woolly language: Jona is known for presenting such topics in a way that everyone understands and no one leaves bored.

AI changes everything — but what exactly changes, for whom, and how quickly? The labour market is on the brink of one of the biggest transformations in decades. Jona van Loenen combines his economic expertise with his entrepreneurial experience in the tech sector to delve into these issues. With his experience in the tech sector, he speaks not only about AI in theory but also knows what it means to be in the midst of that change. In this lecture, Jona discusses which jobs will disappear, which will emerge, what this demands from employers and employees, and how organisations can prepare for a labour market that looks different tomorrow than it did yesterday.

Government spending is rising, pension systems are being reformed, and politics is making choices that are directly felt in your wallet — but how much control do you really have over what is happening? Thanks to his sharp knowledge of government finances and his experience as an economist at the forefront of the financial sector, Jona makes visible what often remains hidden. He knows the world of government finances from the inside and understands how that world feels for entrepreneurs and executives. In this lecture, Jona explains where government money goes, what the reforms in the pension system mean, and which political choices in the coming years will be decisive for the Dutch business sector, and thus for you.