GOODBYE TO BANKING - AND JAPAN's BUBBLE ECONOMY

Seven years after joining AMRO and setting up its first overseas branch, in New York, I decided that I had done enough banking in my life, and that it was time to find, once again, my way in the world of the pen.

Having obtained, during my negotiations with the AMRO board in 1981, their promise to grant me an early pension if I decided to quit after working for (a minimum of) seven years, I had secured an adequate financial basis for taking this leap into the unknown.

At the end of March 1988, alarge reception to introduce my successor was held at New York's prestigious Plaza Hotel, followed by a spate of dinners and other farewell events. After that, we moved from our Park Avenue apartment to “Sydare,” our spacious but rather remote weekend house near Salisbury, Connecticut, located among green hills and deep forests.

Somehow, though, the peace and quiet failed to inspire. We both missed our Japanese links, but I was also thinking of moving to London or Amsterdam. We were both wondering what would suit us best. We agreed that we should let our new-found freedom sink in for a while, before making the next move.

Meanwhile, it was time to visit Japan again. I arrived in Tokyo with Toyoko on December 29.