4 ms·

Amsterdam is a very special place. You know how on HN everybody always complains about insane all kinds of legislation in SF? Well in that respect, Amsterdam is

Amsterdam is a very special place. You know how on HN everybody always complains about insane all kinds of legislation in SF? Well in that respect, Amsterdam is the SF of the Netherlands. So please let this taint your opinion of Amsterdam, and not of Europe or the Netherlands. They really like rules and regulations there. More is better. Notably, the whole concept of a high school lottery is culturally alien to most of the country. Let alone a lottery with a 1000-page rule book and court cases.

paulannesley 9y ago
> let this taint your opinion of Amsterdam Why taint? The judge gave good reasons for disallowing trading. In particular; if students know they can trade places later, they'll pile onto the most popular schools (rather than their true preference) knowing that if successful they can easily trade their place for another one (including their preferred school which may not have selected them). Add to this the possibility of paid trades, I think it's great they're keeping it fair and simple.
rb666 9y ago
Yes, Amsterdam loves regulations. But Amsterdam is quite uniquely positioned in NL. The popularity of the city with locals as well as tourists is of an entirely different level than the rest of NL. Furthermore, the AMS lottery systems is precisely a regulation that is far from pointless. This article explains it very well.
Ntrails 9y ago
Fascinating. As an outsider this reads like a wonderful attempt by those with difficult decisions to make to be as fair as possible to all of the young people for whom they are responsible. The only thing this has done is raise my estimations of the public servants in Amsterdam.
murphyslab 9y ago
Living in another part of the Netherlands, I haven't seen a significant difference. The Dutch have an altogether practical outlook, valuing regulatory conformity. One cannot even choose to paint the exterior of their house differently. The main difference with Amsterdam is primarily the size of the city: greater size makes for more schools and greater variability between them. Greater variability creates a differential in desirability, thus creating the problem of allocation... to which they have devised a very Dutch solution.

paulannesley 9y ago

> let this taint your opinion of Amsterdam Why taint? The judge gave good reasons for disallowing trading. In particular; if students know they can trade places later, they'll pile onto the most popular schools (rather than their true preference) knowing that if successful they can easily trade their place for another one (including their preferred school which may not have selected them). Add to this the possibility of paid trades, I think it's great they're keeping it fair and simple.

rb666 9y ago

Yes, Amsterdam loves regulations. But Amsterdam is quite uniquely positioned in NL. The popularity of the city with locals as well as tourists is of an entirely different level than the rest of NL. Furthermore, the AMS lottery systems is precisely a regulation that is far from pointless. This article explains it very well.

Ntrails 9y ago

Fascinating. As an outsider this reads like a wonderful attempt by those with difficult decisions to make to be as fair as possible to all of the young people for whom they are responsible. The only thing this has done is raise my estimations of the public servants in Amsterdam.

murphyslab 9y ago

Living in another part of the Netherlands, I haven't seen a significant difference. The Dutch have an altogether practical outlook, valuing regulatory conformity. One cannot even choose to paint the exterior of their house differently. The main difference with Amsterdam is primarily the size of the city: greater size makes for more schools and greater variability between them. Greater variability creates a differential in desirability, thus creating the problem of allocation... to which they have devised a very Dutch solution.