The Netherlands - once a cheerleader for European austerity - is suffering from a property bubble. Bas Jacobs, professor Economics of the Erasmus School of Economics, talks about the austerity package of cabinet Rutte-II in the radio program World Business Report of BBC World Service of Thursday August 15th.
The Netherlands is suffering from a housing bubble that bursts and is also in recession. It was once a exemplary economy at the heart of Europe, now it's property price crash is endangering lenders and jobs. Jacobs talks about the kind of austerity measures taking place in the Netherlands: "The Dutch government implements an austerity package in the period 2011-2017. The amount is about 8% of GDP, about half of which are tax increases and the other half are budget cuts."
On the question 'is the fact that the Dutch are now enduring austerity themselves undermining the support they previously felt for such measures?', Jacobs answers: "I'm not so sure whether the Dutch support for austerity internationally was shared by such a large part of the Dutch population. But it's true that the Dutch government took a very strict interpretation of the budgetary rules and was very tough on the peripheral countries in the eurozone."
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- On 7:14 minutes, the reporter interviews a couple of Dutch citizens
- On 12:25 minutes, the interview with Bas Jacobs starts