Financial Times: Nederland vs. België

[Numawan]

Why is the Netherlands doing so badly?

The Dutch economy began to recover around the end of 2013. Employment started picking up, house prices bottomed, and even real household consumption began to show signs of life. The same patterns can be seen in the Italian data. The question is why. Whatever the explanation, it likely tells us much more about the euro area’s weakness than any diatribe about the need for “structural reforms”.

http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2016/06/1...oing-so-badly/


What is the deal with Belgium?

Belgium’s relative success is even clearer in the employment data. The total number of Belgians with a job never meaningfully dropped during the recession and is now at an all-time high. For the euro area as a whole, total employment is down by about 4.5 per cent from the peak in 2008, and by far more in the hardest-hit countries. Moreover, the proportion of Belgians who are working is basically at an all-time high, in stark contrast to the continent as a whole:

http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2015/08/2...-with-belgium/