These are lonely days for Prime Minister Mark Rutte of The Netherlands, as he has turned from a popular outspoken proponent of the North European vox populi railing against the PIIGS into a Don Quixote, fighting European windmills.
Initially, The Netherlands seemed to be one of the winners of the European credit crisis: Unemployment had only risen by a tiny amount in 2008/2009 and the exports within the European Union had recovered quickly. The Netherlands was also among the countries with the lowest unemployment in Europe. Rutte was firmly on the team of German chancellor Angela Merkel for the greater part of 2011, defending the line of pro-budget discipline, pro-austerity, and anti-economic stimulus. He put the blame for the crisis squarely on the countries (i.e., the PIIGS) who spent too much money in the past and had difficulties with balancing their state budgets.
For a while, it seemed, The Netherlands seemed to be the Golden Child of Europe. However, since June 2011, it has faced an enormous reversal of fortune.
Read more: The Dogs Bark, But The Caravan Moves On For Dutch Economy | Politics And Regulation | Minyanville.com
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