Just as Europe starts running again, Amsterdam stumbles. In the Netherlands, the unemployment rate has more than doubled in six years: from 4 percent in 2007 to 8,5 percent today. According to the latest data published by the central statistical office, the Dutch Istat, consumer confidence fell by 38 points in June and inflation rose by almost 3 percent compared to the same period last year.
"After 5 years, the crisis is making itself felt intensely in the Netherlands", points out NRC Handelsblad, a Dutch newspaper with a liberal orientation. According to the Amsterdam newspaper, the Netherlands in 2013 are very different from those of 2007, when the stock market and house prices were on the rise: today the car fleet is significantly aged, for-sale signs crowd the gardens of the houses and in addition to discount stores also increase the number of "big boys" - a made in Italy definition for an increasingly global phenomenon - who remain to live with their parents. An all too Mediterranean scenario for Northern Europe. NRC Handelsblad also notes that "recourse to food assistance has almost doubled, that to indebted people has increased by 80 percent and the number of suicides is growing sharply".
