Holland: "An Economy On The Brink" (Germany's most important ally in fiscal discipline in crisis)

Zero Hedge ^ | 04/02/2013 | Tyler Durden

[SeekAndFind]

Infamous for little boys plugging holes with their fingers and grown-ups plugging their mouth with their foot (D-Boom), it seems Holland, Berlin's most important ally in the goal of greater fiscal discipline in Europe, has fallen into an economic crisis itself. As Spiegel reports, the once exemplary economy is suffering from huge debts and a burst real estate bubble, which has stalled growth and endangered jobs.

The statistics make for some worrisome reading: no nation in the euro zone is as deeply in debt as the Netherlands, where banks have a total of about €650 billion in mortgage loans on their books; consumer debt amounts to about 250% of available income - by comparison, in 2011 even the Spaniards only reached a debt ratio of 125%; unemployment is on the rise; consumption is down; and growth has come to a standstill.

The trouble for Holland is that despite their proclamations of the need for Fiscal conservatism, even EUR46 billion in austerity measures are apparently not enough to keep the nation's deficit within the EU debt limit. The Dutch were long among Europe's most diligent savers, and in the crisis many are holding onto their money even more tightly, which is also toxic to the economy, as "one of the main problems is declining consumption."

The nationalization on SNS in February brought this reality home and as Spiegel reports, "there is no end to the crisis in sight."

 

 

Source: Spiegel

[dfwgator]

the once exemplary economy is suffering from huge debts and a burst real estate bubble

I wonder how their tulip market is doing?

[SeekAndFind]

SOURCE: http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1338480?eng=y

Eurabia Has A Capital: Rotterdam

EXCERPT:

Holland is an extraordinary test case. It is the country in which individual license is the most extensive – to the point of permitting euthanasia on children – in which the Christian identity is most faded, in which the Moslem presence is growing most boldly.

Here, multiculturalism is the rule. But the exceptions are dramatic: from the killing of the anti-Islamist political leader Pim Fortuyn to the persecution of the Somali dissident Ayaan Hirsi Ali to the murder of the director Theo Van Gogh, condemned to death for his film “Submission,” a denunciation of the crimes of Muslim theocracy. Fortuyn’s successor, Geert Wilders, has lived under 24-hour police protection for six years.

There is one city in Holland where this new reality can be seen with the naked eye, more than anywhere else. Here, entire neighborhoods look as if they have been lifted from the Middle East, here stand the largest mosques in Europe, here parts of sharia law are applied in the courts and theaters, here many of the women go around veiled, here the mayor is a Muslim, the son of an imam.

This city is Rotterdam, Holland’s second largest city by population, and the largest port in Europe by cargo volume.

CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE REST OF THE ARTICLE

[SeekAndFind]

[SeekAndFind]

[binreadin]

A friend of mine was there a few months ago, and he was told by some locals that they all kept their money offshore to escape the punitive taxes. Apparently anyone with any means did the same. Not surprising.

[binreadin]

A friend of mine was there a few months ago, and he was told by some locals that they all kept their money offshore to escape the punitive taxes. Apparently anyone with any means did the same, as their savings were taxed directly. Not surprising.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

More evidence that these “debt” crises are really spending crises. In Holland, government spending was increased as the economy boomed and produced artificially high levels of revenue. When the bubble burst, the spending did not come down and people expected their government benes and resisted cutting spending. Its easy to ratchet spending up but extremely difficult to ratchet it down. Now that taxes on “the rich” are at almost confiscatory levels in Europe, there is no practical solution for politicians who don’t want or don’t have the will to implement spending cuts.

[RedMDer]

Support Free Republic

[JSDude1]

Time for depositors to take money out of Holland’s banks, in preparation for you know what..!

[familyop]

Gentlemen, start your foreclosure engines to give our country a new start. Get ‘em done! Time for cuts to big government, too—especially shutting down big pork (federal funding) to local governments. Otherwise, natural economics will do it for you and drag you down in the process. The east has plans for disposing of worthless treasuries while building more transportation for commodities across Asia, etc. There may not be much time.

[SomeCallMeTim]

the largest port in Europe by cargo volume.

OMG... Those words chilled me. They've given control of the biggest port to the moose-limbs?? Are they NUTS??

Of course, the answer is... yes. And, so are we.

[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

We are in a world depression that is unwinding like volcanic lava, slow but unstoppable. And people still think the stock market is a good investment. Just incredible.