Former students of Dr H. J. Witteveen and many of those who collaborated with him in the past decades have decided a while ago that his great scientific and social merits are ample reason for presenting him with a Liber Amicorum. The fortieth anniversary of his appointment as professor at the Netherlands School of Economics in Rotterdam in the Spring of 1988 seemed a suitable time for presentation. For this purpose a committee was formed consisting of the members listed below. The last three of these also act as editorial committee of this anniversary volume. The topic the editorial committee chose is 'The quest for national and global economic stability'; this topic has